Firms partner to accelerate dairy development in Nigeria

A consortium of four international organisations, namely FrieslandCampina WAMCO, URUS, Barenbrug and Agrifirm, has announced their co-operation as strategic partners to accelerate the Nigerian dairy sector.

Preparatory to a webinar scheduled for April 20, 2021, key representatives of each partner will share their vision on how to accelerate dairy development in Nigeria. The partners will endorse this ambitious plan by signing the cooperation agreement.

The formation of the consortium, specialised in milk collection and processing (FrieslandCampina WAMCO), breeding (URUS), roughage production (Barenbrug) and animal feed (Agrifirm), will help to bolster a sustainable and integrated dairy sector model, which will formulate homegrown methods and solutions to challenges, which previously needed external intervention. It will plan and act on the long-term requirements for a self-sufficient dairy chain in the country.

According to the Managing Director, FrieslandCampina WAMCO, Ben Langat, “In FrieslandCampina WAMCO, our ambition is to jointly invest in local business models to enable the dairy sector become self-sufficient and profitable throughout the entire chain. This will include building joint infrastructures, collaborative training of farmers, investing in local production and leveraging each other’s knowledge and competencies.”

Global Director, Dairy Development and Milkstreams, FrieslandCampina, Jeroen Elfers, also affirmed that “only a sector with a return on investment in every part of the chain can be self-sufficient and will survive in the long term”. “We are proud to state that these three professional and world leading companies with proven track records share this ambition and believe in developing the cornerstones of the Nigerian dairy sector with FrieslandCampina WAMCO” Elfers said.