Following
the recent meeting between the Prime Minister of Denmark, Mr. Lars Loekke
Rasmussen and President Muhammadu Buhari, a high-powered Nigerian delegation
from the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development on Wednesday
held talks in Denmark with Arla Foods on the development of the dairy sector in
Nigeria.
Arla
Foods is one of the world’s largest dairy companies. The visit
is Arla’s second milestone in its declared commitment to invest
in local production in Nigeria and help create a more sustainable
local dairy industry, following the presentation of it's signed letter of
intent to Nigeria’s Minister for Agriculture and Rural Development,
Chief Audu Ogbeh. Arla's Letter of Intent was presented in
February 2016 at the same meeting where Denmark’s Minister of Foreign Affairs,
Kristian Jensen signed a letter of Intent with the Nigerian Minister
of Agriculture to cooperate on the development of the local agriculture sector
in Nigeria.
The
Nigerian delegation has representatives of the key line departments responsible
for the dairy development comprising Dr. Gideon Mshelbwala, Director, Veterinary
Services and Pest Control; Dr. Mrs. Egejuru Eze, Director. Animal Production
and Husbandry as well as Senior Technical
Adviser to the Minister, Dr. Andrew Kwasari and
Hon. Saleh Hassan, Member, House of Representatives’ Committee on Agriculture.
While
welcoming the delegation during a tour of one of Arla’s dairy farms, Steen
Hadsbjerg, Senior Vice President and Head of Arla Foods for Sub-Saharan Africa,
stated that, Nigeria is key to Arla’s ability to sell its farmer owners’ milk
in West Africa in the future. Hadsbejerg declared, “we understand that
developing the Nigerian local dairy industry to create a sustainable value
chain that contributes to food security, local jobs and prosperity are important
issues for the government. The Nigerian government welcomes companies and
initiative that will help this development.”
“The
purpose of this visit is for Arla to understand the
challenges in developing a sustainable dairy sector in Nigeria and how Arla can
most effectively contribute to the solution. It is also for Arla to share our
knowledge and experience about how our farmer owners have organised and
developed their value chain. The result will
benefit Arla’s opportunities whilst ensuring the good development of the dairy
market in Nigeria for the benefit of all parties,” Hadsbjerg further said.
Senior Technical
Adviser to the Minister, Dr. Andrew Kwasari, said, “this visit has been an eye
opener for me. Arla is an organised cooperative that has done very well and
work in a sustainable manner. Arla is run by the farmers themselves and to
protect the interest of their farmer colleagues and ensure better returns on
their milk, they set a higher standard for their milk quality than expected by
the government”.
He continued:
“We hope for a partnership with Arla and knowledge sharing that will help us
empower Nigerian farmers who face multiple challenges with logistics,
infrastructure, organisation, quality and productivity. We could definitely see
Arla as a partner to help build a sustainable dairy industry in Nigeria from
the very beginning based on its globally proven concept of 'Dairy enterprise of
the farmers, for the farmers by the farmers.”
Speaking during a
tour of the Arla facility in Copehangen, Member, House of Representatives’
Committee on Agriculture, Hon. Mr Hassan Saleh, commended Arla Foods for its
high production standard saying, “Arla Foods has demonstrated it is a
very organised company and their processes are impeccable resulting in high
quality products. I am very impressed with what I have seen and I believe that
Arla will be a good partner to help us improve our milk production and make it
more sustainable.”
During the
visit, the Nigerian delegation learned about Arla’s international business and
the important role that Nigeria plays in Arla’s strategy. The delegation also
visited one of Arla’s cooperative farmer owners to see how the farm quality
programme Arlagaarden ensures high standards on the farm. The delegation also
visited a fresh milk dairy to see how Arla works with quality systems to
deliver high quality products to consumer across the world.
Hon. Saleh
said, “Nigeria will need both local farmers and imported products, so there
will be a market for both in the future and I see a strong future for Arla in
Nigeria. We will not be self-sufficient for some years to come.”
In continuation of their
visit to Denmark, members of the Nigerian delegation also attended round table
discussions with Arla and Danish food and agriculture companies where they
shared knowledge about farm and dairy technology solutions and discussed
potential partnerships to help develop the Nigerian dairy industry.
Nigeria spends
$1.3billion dollars on dairy imports. The Nigerian government’s target is to
double the milk production over the next three to four years so as to meet up
with domestic consumption and export. With a population of over 180 million
people, Nigeria is presently experiencing low local milk production and more
than 70% of dairy products are imported into Nigeria. An average cow in Nigeria
is said to produce 1 kg of milk a day. So there is a long way to go before
Nigeria is self-sufficient. The government has identified that what is required
is among other things a more formal ranching system to improve processes, yield
and quality to extract higher value. The visit of the Nigerian delegation to
Arla Foods in Demark is therefore a bold expression of the Nigerian
government’s interest in learning from how Arla has organised its
production.
-End-
About Arla Foods
Arla Foods is an international dairy company owned by 12.700 farmers
from Denmark, Sweden, the UK, Germany, Belgium, Luxemburg and the Netherlands.
Arla Foods is one of the strongest players in the international dairy arena,
with a wide range of dairy products of highest quality. Well-known brands like
Dano Milk, Lurpak® and Castello® belong to the Arla
family. Arla Foods is also the world's largest manufacturer of organic
dairy products.
Jonas Søndergård
Global Senior PR Manager
Global Communication
Arla Foods AB
Sønderhøj 14
Viby J
Danmark
Phone: + 45 9131 3874
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