Dairy farmers in Kano said they have experienced improvement in productivity levels in the value chain and fewer conflicts between herders and farmers.
Speaking during the 2024 World Milk Day commemorative event held in the state, the farmers attested to the business’ backward integration investment impact. According to them, they have benefited a lot through partnering with Outspan Nigeria.
Outspan Nigeria Limited, a subsidiary of Olam Food Ingredients (OFI), initiated a backward integration programme in the dairy value chain in 2019. In partnership with the Kano Dairy Cooperative Union, the business embarked on investment targeted at raising dairy farmers’ capacities, improving milk collection and storage facilities around farming clusters, and scaling up cattle health support.
Senior lecturer at the Kano State Polytechnic and Technical Assistant to the Senior Assistant to the State Governor on Cooperative Groups, Dr Hassan Muhammed Imam, during the event, recounted, “Conflict issues between the herdsmen and farmers have been in existence for decades. But the coming of Outspan Nigeria into the Kano dairy value chain has enabled dairy farmers to settle in one place and reduce unnecessary movement of herds which previously created a dispute between the Fulani herdsmen and local farmers.”
According to Salisu Dahiru, a dairy farmer and the financial secretary for Kano Dairy, “Before the coming of Outspan into Kano Dairy Cooperative we used to have a lot of crises in our localities. But since around 2019 and 2020 when we started partnering with the business the crisis began to decline by about 70 to 80 per cent.
The business provided us with feed that reduced grazing. They also train us on how to raise dairy herd productivity.”
The Chairman of the Kano Dairy Cooperative Union, Abdullahi Usman, and the district head for Dawakin Kudu LGA Sani Umar, expressed gratitude for the support the cooperative continues to receive from Outspan.
Speaking at the event, Dairy Sales Manager, B2B, for Outspan Nigeria, Chioma Eze, remarked, “It has been five years since we embarked on this journey with Kano Dairy Cooperative Union, and we are very pleased to see the results of all our hard work come to fruition.”
Vice president of Ofi’s dairy business in Nigeria, Praveen Paulsamy, said, “We are committed to the federal government’s Renewed Hope Agenda. We will continue to consider opportunities that enable quality investments in developing the local dairy value chain to drive more productivity in dairy farming communities.”