📺 Nigeria TV Info – The Federal Government has reaffirmed its commitment to dairy development in Nigeria, aiming to boost local milk production and reduce dependence on imports.

Minister of Livestock Development, Idi Mukhtar, disclosed this during a courtesy visit in Abuja by a delegation from the French Development Agency (AFD), led by Country Director Xavier Muron, along with ECOWAS representatives.

Mukhtar said the government’s dairy programme will be private sector-driven and forms a central part of the Nigeria Livestock Growth Acceleration Strategy (NL-GAS), the Ministry’s strategic blueprint.

He identified key challenges plaguing the dairy sector, such as poor milk collection and storage systems, high transportation costs, and weak logistics infrastructure. The Minister noted that some state governments are already providing land to support the livestock transformation agenda, a vital step toward scaling up dairy and livestock development.

Emphasizing sustainability, Mukhtar called on pastoralists to utilize grazing reserves where the government is working on breed improvement, disease control, and pasture development — efforts that can help reduce herder-farmer conflicts.

> “We don’t want the continuous movement of animals from one location to another, especially due to insecurity tied to the search for grazing land,” he stressed.

He assured the AFD and ECOWAS of the Ministry’s full support in transforming Nigeria’s dairy industry, highlighting the country’s large population, including an estimated 47 million children, as a significant and growing market for dairy products.