Value4Dairy Consortium led by FrieslandCampina receives grant to boost the Nigerian dairy sector

To support the further development of the Nigerian dairy sector, the latest project of the Value4Dairy Consortium led by FrieslandCampina has received a 5 million USD grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. This will boost dairy productivity and sustainability of the Nigerian dairy sector.

Cofunding by Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Launched in April 2021, the Value4Dairy Consortium is a collaboration of four strategic partners with expertise in various agri-related value chains: FrieslandCampina WAMCO (a subsidiary of FrieslandCampina and Nigeria’s leading dairy company); URUS (a global leader in artificial insemination, genetics, and herd management systems), Barenbrug (a leading grass and forage seed company), and Agrifirm (a global company that operates in the animal nutrition and crop farming business). With proven track records in the mentioned value chains, the Consortium is committed to advancing systemic and sustainable local dairy production in Nigeria. This unique private sector Consortium has developed a model that represents a pathway towards a self-sufficient, competitive, climate-smart and locally managed dairy sector. The 5 million USD grant received from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will fund 50 percent of the Consortium’s latest project.

Promoting local dairy production

The project is designed to modernise the Nigerian dairy sector and bolster small-scale milk production. The Consortium will establish three self-sustaining dairy zones which will be run by local farmer cooperatives in three Nigerian states: Oyo, Osun and Abuja. These zones will serve as hubs for training and supporting 10,000 pastoralists and smallholders, growing to include 40.000 milk producers in the subsequent years. Each Dairy zone will have a warehouse, outlets with dairy farming inputs, and two milk collection points, where FrieslandCampina WAMCO will collect the aggregated milk for processing into nutritious dairy products to feed more than 5 million Nigerians. The Consortium will leverage the partners’ expertise to provide local farmers access to the latest advancements in feed, breeding, sustainable farming practices, and routes to the market, enabling them to increase milk production at lower costs sustainably.

While the programme focuses on dairy sector transformation, it will also contribute to improving food security, raising farmer incomes, enhancing nutrition, reducing conflicts between herders and farmers, improving water access, and lowering greenhouse gas emission intensity. Additionally, the programme is gender-intentional, as it includes dedicated interventions to empower women to participate in activities and earn additional income.

Jeroen Elfers, Global Dairy Development Director at FrieslandCampina, stated, “FrieslandCampina has a longstanding commitment to building local resilient dairy value chains. FrieslandCampina is committed to the growth and development of the Nigerian dairy sector and works with its partners in the Value4Dairy Consortium to support the development of a more robust dairy infrastructure. We are very pleased with the grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, as it will enable us to accelerate the project. It also makes it possible to build a more robust programme for the transition towards a sustainable, self-sufficient and inclusive dairy value chain in Nigeria.”

Roger Adou, Managing Director of FrieslandCampina WAMCO said, “Together with our partners, FrieslandCampina WAMCO has created the largest dairy value chain in South-West Nigeria. With this project, we aim to further empower local farmers, increase milk production, and contribute to the nation’s agricultural prosperity.”

Value4Dairy consortium

The Value4Dairy partner companies URUS, Agrifirm and Barenbrug have developed improved inputs for livestock farming: genetics, feed and grass/pasture suitable for African conditions. Their aim is to enable farmers in tropical conditions such as Nigeria to improve milk yields and farmer income. FrieslandCampina WAMCO will be the main implementing partner in Nigeria, responsible for the recruitment and training of smallholder farmers, settled pastoralists, and cooperatives. The company will work on establishing the three dairy zones, including cooperative setup and physical infrastructure (milk collection centers), setting up the microfinance scheme, and coordinating the work of all Consortium partners. URUS will provide improved genetics and artificial insemination (AI) services to the project, along with setting up a network of trained inseminators and providing equipment for insemination. Barenbrug will establish demonstration units to test and showcase suitable grass varieties for dairy farming in Nigeria. The Barenbrug team will also support project beneficiaries (famers and settled pastoralists) in establishing improved forages for their livestock for higher cost-effective milk production. Agrifirm will share both their knowledge and experience with the local feed millers to produce improved feed for dairy livestock and provide concentrates and recipes for the local milk production.