- Govt Eyes N300bn Revenue From Dairy Sector
The Federal Government said it would put in place the right infrastructure and technology to enable the diary sector generated an annual revenue of N300bn.
The Minister of State for Industry, Trade and Investment, Aisha Abubakar, said this on Wednesday in Abuja while constituting a committee for the development of a policy framework to boost the dairy industry.
The minister said the committee was being constituted as part of efforts to diversify the economy and increase local production in sectors where Nigeria had comparative and competitive advantages.
She urged members of the committee to develop a road map that would move the production of dairy products from its current position to rank among one of the best in the world.
Abubakar expressed optimism that with the right policies, the sector would be able to create lots of jobs for the people, while earning foreign exchange for the country.
The minister lamented that about $1.3bn was being spent annually on the importation of dairy products such as milk, yogurt, cheese and other milk derivatives.
She added that with the increasing population, the consumption of dairy products was expected to grow further.
The minister said from official statistics, there were about 19.5 million cattle in Nigeria, noting that 85 per cent of these were owned by individuals and being managed by smallholder herdsmen.
The rest, according to her, are owned by medium and large-scale farmers in managed pastures.
