Alhaji Sabo Nanono,the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Alhaji Sabo Nanono has regretted that Nigeria spends about $1.5 billion importing dairy products annually.
He expressed that despite the potentials in the dairy industry, 60 per cent of dairy products consumed in the country is imported while the remaining 40 per cent is produced locally.
He spoke Sat the National Diary Policy Stakeholders Engagement in Abuja, where he emphasized the need to harness the potentials in the dairy sector in order to address some socio-economic and national herd management issues.
He said the Nigerian dairy industry is largely subsistence and consists of local milk production, importation, processing, marketing and consumption.
“The consumption of aggregated and bulked milk is less than 20% of the local potential. Nigeria’s milk production accounts for only 13% of West African production and 0.01% of global dairy output.The gap between supply and demand for dairy products is widening as a result of an increase in population and urbanization.
“The per capita consumption of milk is 8 litres per year, representing very low consumption levels when compared with the global averages of 44 litres of milk (FAOSTAT, 2019). Consequently, the long neglect of the livestock sector has put a lot of burden on the import bills of the country.About 5 billion USD worth of food is imported yearly into the country out of which milk and dairy products account for 1.2-1.5 billion USD (CBN 2019). Hence, the annual dairy consumption is met by 60% imports and 40% local production”.
106700cookie-checkNigeria’s $1.5bn Annual Spend On Diary Products Import Regrettable ― Minister
