Page 55 - Msingi Afrika Magazine Issue 19

Innovate Afrika

controls about 75% of the Nigerian
dairy market, with just five compa-
nies controlling 99% of it.

Yet Nigeria has one of the larg-
est cattle herds in the world and
has a long tradition of local dairy
production. By all accounts, things
should be similar to Kenya, where
herders and small farmers with
local breeds of cows supply about
90% of the milk consumed in the FrieslandCampina, headquartered in the Netherlands, is in 38 countries and distributes to
country through networks of small- 100 countries. In every country, they operate as a different company with different brands.
scale traders. The difference is that It has operated as Bonnet Rouge in West Africa; in Nigeria as Peak and Three Crowns
Kenya has long protected its local and as WamCo. In Ethiopia, they are the largest investors in the dairy sector operating
dairies with tariffs on imports, while as Holland Dairy. Together with Syngenta and other agro-chemical companies, Friesland
Nigeria opened its market in the Campina, hopes to be the leader by 2024 in the marketing of Eubiotics – a USD 4
1980s under structural adjustment billion industry. Photo : FrieslandCampina DMV plant in The Netherlands, 2014.
programmes, and the government Wikimedia Commons; User J187B
has made no real efforts to reign in
the import flows ever since.
But after several meetings with contract production. Similarly, the
FrieslandCampina likes to blame FrieslandCampina, in which the Danish multinational dairy company
the “poor structure of local dairy company assured the government Arla has a partnership with Kaduna
supply chains” for the situation, and that it would build up local supplies, State to build its own dairy farm
whenever the political scene gets too the government-backed down. and to settle 1,000 nomadic herd-
hot, it rolls out promises to invest Three years later, with dairy imports ers on farmlands provided by the
in “developing” the dairy sector. It as high as ever, the government government. The Dutch and Danish
built its first large-scale dairy farm in finally put milk on the list, accusing governments are helping to fund
Nigeria in Vom in the Plateau State, companies of treating the “national these projects and provide the par-
back in 1984, but sold the opera- aspiration [to increase the local milk ticipating herders with “improved”
tion, called Integrated Dairies, to a supply] with imperial contempt”. crossbred cattle and training on
Nigerian politician a decade later. The companies pushed back hard, European-style dairy farming, as is
More recently, with funding from however, and the government the Bill and Melinda Gates Foun-
the Dutch government, the compa- relented yet again, giving Friesland- dation through a programme called
ny launched a Dairy Development Campina and five other corpora- Advancing Local Dairy Develop-
Programme with the Government tions an exemption on the import ment in Nigeria.
of Nigeria, in which it pledged to restrictions in February 2020, saying
source 10% of its milk from local that these companies were commit- The Gates-funded programme is a
sources through “backward inte- ted to “backwards integration”. collaboration with six dairy compa-
gration”. Yet, over the initial five nies in Nigeria, coordinated by Sahel
years of the project, from 2011- This latest round of public-pri- Consulting (formerly Sahel Capital).
2016, Nigeria’s milk powder imports vate partnership is closely tied to a One of the companies, L&Z Inte-
remained unchanged, and Friesland- controversial ban on open grazing grated Farms Limited, is owned by a
Campina was only sourcing 3% of that 17 state governors from across Mauritius-based private equity fund
its milk locally. southern Nigeria agreed to in May managed by Sahel Consulting that
2021, and which has been called has investment from the German,
In 2016, with oil prices tanking and “satanic” by herder leaders.[7] To Dutch and UK development banks,
its foreign currency reserves badly this end, FrieslandCampina has as well as Nigeria’s sovereign wealth
depleted, the Nigerian government been given 10,000 ha and Coca-Cola fund.[8] Arla is another one of the
sought to put milk on a list of 4,000 ha within the Bobi Grazing companies involved, and the rest are
imported items with forex restric- Reserve in Niger State to build dairy Nigerian dairy companies mostly
tions to encourage local production. farms and settle Fulani herders for owned by local politicians or their

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