Outspan Nigeria Limited, a subsidiary of ofi (olam food ingredients) has reaffirmed its commitment to the dairy sector through scaled investment in backward integration programs (BIP). ofi signed a renewed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Kano Dairy and Livestock Husbandry Cooperative Union (KADALCU) recently in Kano.
The renewed MoU is targeted at continuing the partnership to develop the local dairy sector. In addition, it is in support of the Federal Government’s food value chain and economic development agenda. Outspan Nigeria has been partnering with KADALCU since 2020 to execute its value chain development efforts.
Through the partnership’s collaboration efforts, ofi has been able to establish four Milk Collection Centers (MCCs) close to the smallholder dairy farmers in Kano state. The centers are equipped with adequate cooling systems that are powered by off-grid equipment. It has also provided quality feed, carried out artificial insemination and vaccination exercises to improve the health of cows and their productivity level; trained the smallholder dairy farmers, donated transportation and cooling systems to ensure the quality of the raw milk produced in the region is preserved and optimized for industrial use.
Speaking on the significance of the renewed MoU, Praveen Paulsamy, Vice President of ofi Dairy in Nigeria, said “We are glad to have come this far in our local dairy value chain development journey. The Kano Dairy Union have proven to be an invaluable partner in this journey. It is only fitting to extend our partnership actions to keep scaling the development of the sector in line with the Federal Government agriculture development and food security aspirations.”
He explained that the renewed MoU will help ofi channel sustained investment in the dairy sector and move to the next phase of its multi-year sectoral development plan, to address the challenges around improving milk production in the country.
“The renewed focus in addition to our existing value chain development initiatives, under the auspices of the ‘Milk Mission’, encapsulate our ambition to help raise the productivity level in the dairy sector while engendering a performance scale that has the potential to push the sector towards fulfilling its economic contributory potential. All our BIP initiatives seek to address protracted issues such as low productivity level, poor cattle health, the dearth of wider cold chain services, inefficient logistics systems, and low exposure to modern agronomic practices which are stifling growth in the dairy sector”, Praveen added.
Responding to Outspan’s actions, Alhaji Usman Abdullahi Usman, the Chairman of Kano Dairy, said, “Kano state can produce 30,000 liters of milk per day. But previously, the infrastructure and logistics necessary to collect and preserve the milk for proper off-taking by industrial users were not available. Outspan’s robust intervention in the dairy sector has been a timely recourse. By investing in well-equipped milk collection centers (MCC) closer to our members (the dairy farmers) in the different clusters, and providing transportation intervention and cooling systems to preserve and optimize the quality of the raw milk for industrial use, the business continues to help us raise our productivity level.”
“As part of the achievements of the collaboration with Outspan, our male members’ wives are able to spend more time at home to nurture the children while the children are able to attend good schools, thanks to the improved proceeds from our milk production activities. We are glad to sign a renewed MoU with the business so we can keep enjoying the advantages offered by their partnership with us,” Alhaji Usman added.
