NIGERIA – The Kano State is set to inject US$9m for the establishment of 200 milk collection centres across the state, within the next five years through its Agro Pastoral Project.
According to the Project Coordinator, Ibrahim Muhammad, 40 milk centers will be constructed annually with the project commencing this year.
Each milk collection center will have a borehole equipped with a solar-powered pump and a 20,000 litres overhead tank, an inputs store and up to 10 fodder banks in its environs.
In addition, the collection center will have a 250-liter tank cooled by solar power and milk testing bench with suitable reagents and utensils, reports This Day.
To guarantee quality assurance of products, training programmes will be conducted for milk producers.
“We also plan to invest handsomely in coordinated fodder production and annual cattle vaccination in addition to proactive artificial insemination, to improve the health and capacity of cattle in the state to produce good quality milk,” said Ibrahim
To further improve sanitation and ensure safety of the commodity, milk and milk product vendors especially women will be support with grants/credits to facilitate hygienic processing and storage of their products.
“Our overall aim is to ensure that more milk is produced locally, under best practices, so that we can drastically reduce dependence on imported milk and allied products, as well as improve nutrition in our communities”.
The government of Nigeria is pursuing its backward integration strategy to make the country self-sufficient in milk production.
Last month, consumer goods manufacturer, Promasidor Nigeria invested US$5m (N2bn) in Ekiti State, aimed to reactivate the Moribund Ikun Dairy Farm, as a catalyst that will turn around the economic fortune of the state.
Established in the early 1980s as an integrated agro-allied farm to boost the economy of the State, Ikun Dairy Farm covers 1,000 hectares of land located in Moba Local Government Area.
The reactivation of the ailing industry, done in partnership with the Central Bank of Nigeria, would ensure a daily production of about 10, 000 litres of milk.
According to a report by Agrilinks, Nigeria has over 180 million residents, consuming about 1.3 billion tons of milk annually. This is a huge market for locally produced milk and dairy products. But, about 60% of dairy products consumed are imported.
According to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Nigeria spends between US$1.2 billion and US$1.5 billion annually importing milk and dairy products.
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