FrieslandCampina WAMCO Nigeria PLC: Steady Progress on Backward Integration in Nigeria’s Dairy Development

Our Journey of Backward Integration in Nigeria

Incorporated in 1973, FrieslandCampina WAMCO started local production (manufacturing) in 1975.  In 1984, FrieslandCampina WAMCO pioneered its first backward integration in dairy through the establishment of a dairy farm located in Vom, Plateau State. Since then, FrieslandCampina WAMCO has integrated all learnings and progressed into a more sustainable dairy value chain model named Dairy Development Programme which was launched in 2010.

FrieslandCampina WAMCO’s Dairy Development Programme (DDP) currently operates in various communities across the South West and Northern parts of Nigeria covering Oyo, Osun, Ogun, Kwara and Niger States respectively.

The DDP focuses on working with pastoralists, small holder dairy farmers and commercial farms, with support from various partners such as IFDC-2SCALE, Bles Dairies, Wageningen University,  Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD) and the Central Bank of Nigeria.

Through the Dairy Development Programme, local farmers are supported in the production of milk (yield per cow improvement), improving milk quality and hygiene, feeding, breeding and farm management. The locally sourced milk from these farmers is collected through own Milk Collection Centers (MCC) which are 28 in total, then transported to the WAMCO processing facility in Lagos and processed into Yoghurt and recombined products in evaporated milk. This is line with our grass to glass philosophy which seeks to ensure quality from the grass the cows feed on to the glass of milk taken by our consumers.

FrieslandCampina WAMCO’s Dairy Development Programme with support from partners has continued to successfully deliver the objectives below among others:

·         Improves the livelihood of over 10,000 smallholder dairy farmers and pastoralists organized in 23 Cooperatives by empowering and integrating them into WAMCO’s fresh milk supply chain, which provides guaranteed market access all year round.

·         Proficient extension services/capacity development and trainings provided for all farmers and other value chain actors, through various ways  including, but not limited, to farmer2farmer training programmes (where Dutch farmers visit Nigeria to train local farmers) hence, developing the productivity and efficiency in farm management.

·         Increasing the volume of fresh milk to an average of 40,000 litres per day at peak periods. Thus, empowering dairy farmers, improving their income and their livelihoods.

·         Created over 100,000 employment opportunities directly and indirectly by empowering women and youth with on-farm and off-farm activities.

·         Achieved premium fresh milk quality levels with TPC’s below 500,000 cfu/ml; increasing milk fat from 3.8% to 4% and total solids from 11% to 12%. Invariably, improving food safety and enhancing nutrition levels.

·         Supports infrastructure development by investing in a modern raw milk processing plant in Lagos and 28 Milk Collection Centers (with total capacity of 85,000 Litres).

·         Provides affordable and nutritious food products to improve access to good nutrition for low income consumers.

·         Going green by promoting eco-efficient practices to safeguard the eco-system through the introduction of solar powered boreholes and other technologies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

·         Built pilot dairy farms with simple sheds and crossbreeds (over 700 F1 calves born since 2015) to build experience with transforming Pastoralists to settled dairy farmers

*FI refers to the first generation offspring of a local cow inseminated with semen of an exotic breed

·         Constructed over 85 solar powered boreholes to improve access to clean water which supports milk hygiene and quality while also contributing to the Social Development Goals (SDGs) by creating access to potable water for people and livestock.

Furthermore, in 2018, an FDOV project (Faciliteit Duurzaam Ondernemen en Voedselzekerheid), co-financed by the Dutch government focused on developing and supporting small holder farmers commenced.  The project was executed with partners of FrieslandCampina such as Bles-Dairies, Wageningen University and Research Institute and IFDC-2SCALE, in order to achieve these objectives:

·         develop 20 smallholder dairy farmers through support on crossbreed cows, cow sheds, farm equipment, vaccinations, boreholes, trainings, pasture development and guaranteed access to the market.

·         support a conducive environment for commercial dairy by supporting the establishment of different service providers.

·         support Pastoralist communities in increasing their milk production for the market both by training them and investing in milk collection facilities

In 2019 the government intensified efforts on backward integration of the dairy sector. It assigned land to various dairy companies including FrieslandCampina WAMCO.

FrieslandCampina WAMCO entered into a joint agreement (MoU) with the government of Niger State concerning a dairy project at the Bobi Grazing Reserve in the State and signed up for a 40 year lease contract representing 10,000 hectares of land at the Reserve.

Our expansion plans necessitated the construction of a State-of-the-Art ready to drink Factory which processes Yoghurt from 100% locally sourced milk in Nigeria.

The attention of the Management of FrieslandCampina WAMCO Nigeria PLC has been drawn to  various news publications of March 16 and 17 2021 respectively which presented the Company’s backward integration out of context. To put things in perspective and correct any erroneous impression made to the public, FrieslandCampina WAMCO Nigeria PLC provides the above facts about its Dairy Development Programme in Nigeria.

We affirm as follows:

FrieslandCampina WAMCO has indeed made great strides in its backward integration efforts.  This is evidenced by our aforementioned achievements.  Our backward integration journey which began in 1984 with pioneering of our first dairy Farm in Vom, Plateau State has since progressed into a more sustainable model named Dairy Development Programme which was launched in 2010. We reiterate that FrieslandCampina WAMCO and its Partners have invested over 21 billion Naira in the DDP as the first dairy company to champion backward integration and lead sustainable dairy development in Nigeria.  We are inspired by our plans for 2021 and beyond.

In conclusion:

As a key stakeholder in strengthening food security in Nigeria and supporting the steady growth of the economy, FrieslandCampina WAMCO remains committed to leading the charge towards sustainable dairy development and human capacity building in the dairy sector.