FG, Nestlé Signs MoU for Dairy Skills Acquisition Centre

News in Brief

-Nigeria and Nestlé have signed a deal to establish a Dairy Technical Skills Development Centre to improve livestock farming and dairy production nationwide.

-This partnership builds on the company's prior investments of ₦1.8 billion, which have trained over 2,000 pastoralists, vaccinated 36,000 cattle, and aggregated over one million litres of raw milk. 

The Federal Government of Nigeria and Nestlé Nigeria Plc have agreed to establish a dairy skills development centre to enhance animal genetics and boost farmers' productivity across Nigeria's dairy value chain.

While signing the pivotal Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Wednesday in Abuja, Minister of Livestock Development, Idi Maiha, described the agreement as a significant shift in the livestock industry. He emphasised the potential of the agreement in tackling the acute shortage of practical technical skills plaguing modern ranch and dairy farm operations in Nigeria.

The minister noted that Nigeria lacks specialised institutions for hands-on training in large-scale dairy management, breeding, fodder production, and animal health, making this centre a game-changer for treating livestock as a modern enterprise.

"You can train people to be bankers, lawyers and doctors; you can also train people to become farm managers," Maiha stated. He added that the initiative aligns with the government’s livestock transformation agenda to improve productivity and curb production-related conflicts.

The centre, set to offer training irrespective of cattle breed, will prioritise practical skills such as breeding, assisted births, calf management, farm operations, record-keeping, milking techniques, hygiene, feed management, and animal welfare.

Dairy Skills Centre to Bridge Critical Gap

Maiha highlighted the paradox of Nigeria's vast livestock population yielding low productivity, averaging one to two litres of milk per cow daily, due to outdated pastoral systems, poor feed, water scarcity, climate impacts, and skill deficits leading to a $1.5 billion annual dairy import bill.

The new Dairy Technical Skills Development Centre in the Federal Capital Territory will serve as a hands-on hub, with a curriculum featuring 70% practical farm experience and 30% classroom theory, benchmarked against global standards.

"The centre will help train Nigerians to manage livestock as a modern enterprise and increase investors’ confidence in the sector. The first set of trainees is expected to graduate within one year," the minister affirmed.

This move addresses a major industry bottleneck, transitioning traditional methods to competitive, sustainable practices that could elevate yields to 10 litres per cow through better breeding, feeding, and herd management, as demonstrated by prior models.

Permanent Secretary Dr Chinyere Ijeoma Akujobi welcomed the partnership, stressing its potential to foster thriving farms, better-nourished families, and profitable households for producers nationwide.

Nestlé's Track Record Fuels Expansion

Nestlé Nigeria's Managing Director, Mr Wassim Elhusseini, mentioned that the deal followed a 2025 letter of intent and the company's ₦1.8 billion investment in dairy development since 2019 via the Livestock Development Project.

These funds have yielded tangible results: aggregation of over one million litres of raw milk, training for more than 2,000 pastoralists, vaccination of over 36,000 cattle, and infrastructure like boreholes, water troughs, and cooling systems.

Participating producers, numbering around 3,000 across 83 cooperatives, saw household incomes rise from ₦70,000 monthly in 2021 to ₦250,000 by 2024, with daily milk collection jumping from 200 litres to 6,000 litres.

In 2025, Nestlé launched a Dairy Demonstration Farm in Paikon Kore grazing reserve, showcasing productivity gains and now evolving into a skills centre to fortify the dairy value chain.

Elhusseini noted the alignment with the National Dairy Policy, positioning the centre to enhance milk quality, volume, and long-term sector sustainability.

Stakeholder Support Signals Bright Future

Representatives from the Commercial Dairy Ranchers Association of Nigeria (CODARAN) praised the MoU for tackling capacity gaps, while goodwill messages came from former House Speaker Yakubu Dogara, FAO, Bank of Agriculture, and other dairy stakeholders.

This public-private synergy builds on the National Livestock Growth Acceleration Strategy (NL-GAS), which targets doubling milk output to 1.2 million metric tonnes in five years and slashing import reliance.

For Nigerian entrepreneurs, students, and agric stakeholders, the centre promises job creation, investor confidence, and a blueprint for modern dairy farming amid rising domestic demand.