The Hon. Minister of Livestock Development Mr. Idi Murkhtar Maiha has said that the Ministry will explore opportunities for strengthening Nigeria’s Dairy Value chain with Danone, by improving supply consistency and scaling sustainable diary business models in line with national livestock development priorities in Nigeria.
The Minister stated this when the Management team of Danone and Bank of Agriculture paid him a courtesy visit in his office today, 30th April, in Abuja.
Mukhtar explained that , the meeting focused on addressing systematic challenges in milk production, improving supply consistency and scaling sustainable dairy business models in line with National Livestock development priorities.
The Honourable Minister highlighted the persistent challenges of dry-season milk shortages, which significantly reduces national output.
He noted that current interventions are largely midstream, with insufficient upstream investment in feed and fodder systems.
He emphasized on the need to establish fodder banks, silage production systems, and pasture development to encourage “Danone” invest in feed and fodder as a long-term sustainability strategy, including off-season feed solutions, he stated.
He further stressed that , a major point of deliberation was on improving the productivity of Nigeria’s cattle through genetics and therefore proposed conducting a cost-benefit analysis comparing the improvement of indigenous breeds versus the importation of exotic high-yield breeds.
The Minister further made reference, to high-yielding dairy systems such as those in Denmark, where cows can produce up to 63.2 litres per day under optimal conditions and the use of Artificial Insemination (AI) and structured breeding programmes was identified as critical.
Mukthar reiterated its focus on improving feed systems, including increased availability of inputs such as urea and NPK fertilizers for pasture cultivation.
The Minister stressed the importance of aggregating existing programmes and ensuring long-term sustainability, and a coordinated system should be developed to track production, logistics, and milk flow across the value chain.
Speaking, during the visit, the Managing Director of Danone Farm-milk, Oreoluwa Atinmo , indicated interest in establishing small-scale feed mills to support local production.
She also said that Danone’s ongoing backward integration efforts were acknowledged, by the Hon. Minister, particularly in building capacity among local farmers and the Plans to utilize Nigeria’s 36,000 hectares of designated grazing reserves were part of a broader livestock transformation template, she stated.
She also suggested the opportunities for large-scale pasture development including leveraging from existing land resources such as Obasanjo Farms Nigeria Limited, which has approximately 2,000 hectares of land.
The Managing Director , Bank of Agriculture, Mr. Ayo Sotinrin emphasized the need to transition from pilot projects to scalable, commercially viable dairy enterprises.
This he said, is geared towards Strengthening milk collection centres and improving logistics systems and priorities.
He further emphasised that the meeting underscores the critical role of public-private collaboration in transforming Nigeria’s dairy sector.
While Danone has made progress in backward integration, there is a clear need to deepen investments in feed systems, genetics, and farmer integration, he said.
This he added that the Bank would be aligning these efforts with the Federal Ministry of Livestock Development’s strategic priorities that would be essential for achieving sustainable growth, improving milk supply, and enhancing national food security in Nigeria.
Henrietta Okokon
Deputy Director
Press and Public Relations.
30th April, 2026
