Nestlé Dairy Program Achieves
Milk Collection Milestone on
World Milk Day 2022
By: Fanayajo Ranti, The Tochlight Africa News
June first every year is World Milk Day. This year’s celebration is notable for Nestlé’s Nigeria
Livestock Development Project (NLDP), with the milestone of 2,500 litres of fresh milk per
day from only 200 litres collected on the first day of milk collection on June 1, 2021. A
collaboration between Nestlé Nigeria, ‘CBiIL’ and 2SCALE, NLDP delivers 1,500 L/day at
Paikon Kore Grazing Reserve and 1,000L/day at Kachia Grazing Reserve.
Victoria Uwadoka, Corporate Communications and Public Affairs Manager for Nestlé
Nigeria, affirms that the collection of 2,500L/day was made possible by 25 cooperatives
comprising over 625 households milking between 4,000 and 6,000 cows every day. These
cooperatives have been trained and nurtured for over 18 months to achieve the good quality
fresh milk now produced through the project.
The celebration of World Milk Day 2022 at Paikon Kore provided a platform for recognising
and rewarding the farmers who excelled in various aspects of milk production. Categories of
awards included Highest Producing Male (Abdulrahman Rabia), Highest Producing Female
(Rabia Raga), Best Aggregator (Shehu Muhammed), Best Cooperative Kosan Denko, Best
Milking Community, and Aggregator with Least Spoilage (Adamu Abdullah).
The recipients
were delighted and expressed their thanks to Nestlé and the NLDP.
The ceremony was attended by stakeholders and dignitaries, including The Mandate
Secretary, ARDS, Mallam Abubakar Ibrahim, and Permanent Secretary, FCT, Mr Olusade
Adesola, ably represented by Mr. Samuel Atang, Director, Operations, Planning and
Strategy. Representatives of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development
were also at the event.
Mr Olusade Adesola, The Permanent Secretary, FCT, said, “It is glad to note that milk
production has steadily increased from 150 to 1,500 litres daily within the past two years of
this partnership. I have been made to understand the products from this centre are being
sold in markets within and outside the Federal Capital Territory.”
Also speaking, The Mandate Secretary, ARDS, Mallam Abubakar Ibrahim, said, “It may
interest you all to know that since the reactivation of the MCCC in 2021 in partnership with
Nestlé Nigeria PLC, daily milk production has risen from between about 300 to 1,500 litres.
This is a result of continuous training and improvement initiatives by both partners and
support from the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. If plans by the
NLDP partnership to introduce new cattle breeds and a demonstration farm are anything to
go by, milk production in the FCT will receive a boost.”
Nestlé continues to leverage its expertise in dairy to help build a sustainable dairy
ecosystem through the NLDP to achieve its objective of Creating Shared Value with Nigerian
airy value chain stakeholders. The program contributes to the local economy by providing
the training and empowerment of the locals and then purchasing services from them.
NLDP is built on three pillars:
Better Fodder, Better Quality, and Better Products. This will be
achieved by improving cooperative dynamics, promoting better herd health, and
engendering hygienic milk collection and handling practices.
The NLDP has trained over 1,400 producers in modern Milk Handling and Milking Hygiene
techniques to help them produce to industry standards, thereby opening more routes to
market. Nestlé pays a premium above the market rates in addition to helping the families
increase production and improve the quality of their products.
Nestlé has helped improve cattle health within the NLDP by deworming and vaccinating over
6,000 cattle against Foot and Mouth Disease. They were also treated against Contagious
Bovine Pleuropneumonia (CBPP) in collaboration with the Federal Capital Territory (FCT)
and Agriculture and Rural Development Secretariat (ARDS). The 6,000 cattle also received
vitamin and mineral blocks (salt licks).
Another significant investment by the NLDP is the provision of Better Fodder which includes
sufficient clean water, balanced pasture, silage, and hay. Over 250 hectares of Napier Grass
and Bracheria have been cultivated and 5 Industrial boreholes built and commissioned.
Three of the boreholes are fitted with drinking troughs for the cattle and taps to provide
portable water to the communities. To further boost milk production, Nestlé is providing
Cotton Seed Cakes which have the potential to increase milk productivity by up to 2L per
cow.
To maintain milk quality from milking to the processing centre, milk must be handled
carefully and kept at a temperature of about 2 degrees Celsius. Each of the 23 aggregators
employed under the NLDP project is trained to maintain these quality standards. They test
for spoilage and adulteration at the collection point. A motorbike, milk churns, and
lactometers are also provided to facilitate their work.
The aggregators get the milk to the Milk Collection and Cooling Centers (MCCC) in the
shortest possible time for cooling and bulking at the requisite temperature after a 4 step
quality check.
Nestlé equips the MCCCs with modern laboratory equipment to ensure food safety is
maintained at industry standards. The staff are trained and issued the right gear to conform
to the set safety standards.
In line with Nestlé’s commitment to protecting the planet for future generations, the NLDP
has adopted climate-friendly practices:
A 30KVA solar power system has been installed to
reduce the fossil fuels used at the MCCC in Paikon Kore.
The industrial boreholes are also
solar-powered.