FrieslandCampina, the Dutch multinational dairy cooperative, is to establish a mobile yoghurt plant aimed at promoting backward integration and strengthening local dairy production in Nigeria.
It comes amid a push by the country to increase milk production from the current 600,000 metric tonnes to 1.7 million tonnes by 2024, in a bid to reduce its $1.5 billion annual dairy importation bill.
The producers of Peak and Three Crowns milk brands, explained that the project which is set to commence by the first quarter of 2022, is part of the dairy development programme that supports local farmers to increase their milk production, improve the quality of the milk, process milk from local dairy farmers into long-life yoghurt drinks, and offer them access to the market.
FrieslandCampina further noted that it will begin operations with a processing capacity of 1.8 million kilogrammes of milk sourced from local dairy farmers and an annual target of at least 18 million pouches of drinking yogurt
The mobile yoghurt plant, according to the dairy giant, will, outside of expanding its processing capacity in Nigeria, contribute to stronger value chains, a stronger economy and good nutrition for the local population.
Jeroen Elfers, corporate director of dairy development and milk streams at FrieslandCampina, said the mobile dairy plant will help thousands of local Nigerian farmers by ensuring the sales of their milk and, consequently, their income.
“We are also creating jobs and providing the population with nutritious and affordable dairy products. In this way, we are cooperating with the Nigerian government in providing food for the rapidly growing population,” he added.