Outspan Vaccinates Cattle in Kano to Boost Productivity in Dairy Value Chain

May 4, 2023
Outspan dairy value chain foot and mouth

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

A subsidiary of Olam food ingredients (ofi), Outspan Nigeria Limited, has vaccinated cattle in Dawakin Kudu LGA, Kano, against foot and mouth disease (FMD).

The disease can negatively impact productivity throughout the dairy value chain, and to avert this, the company partnered with the Kano Dairy Cooperative to vaccinate the livestock.

The latest vaccination exercise is the second phase of the wider intervention, targeting 1,000 cattle– having previously targeted the vaccination of 1,500 dairy cattle in 2021.

The efforts form part of the business’ robust local dairy value chain backward integration (BIP) investment which aims to raise the level of milk production in the country in support of the federal government’s economic diversification agenda.

Speaking on the vaccination exercise, Praveen Paulsamy, Vice President of ofi Dairy in Nigeria, said, “We are committed to the federal government’s economic development agenda. Hence, we’re looking to continue our investment in developing the local dairy value chain to remove the hurdles that have been impeding growth in that area.”

“Animal health is a significant component of any dairy value chain development focus. Helping the dairy farmers vaccinate their cattle is a valuable investment that has the potential to improve the cattle milk production and reproduction levels in the long run,” he added.

Praveen said that the business is aiming to keep scaling the current support for dairy farmers in terms of providing more training for the farmers, aiding milk collection efficiency, expanding access to cold chain logistics, improving the off-taking arrangement and increasing the availability of quality feed to nourish the cattle.

Manish Khede, the Regional Manager, ofi Dairy in Nigeria, explained, “Nigeria is our home. We have set various BIP investment machinery in motion to drive growth in the local dairy value chain. We aim to enable smallholder farmers to increase their outputs with a great impact on the incomes of the segment.”

The representative of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) at the event, Mr Aminu Garba, who is the Manager of the Development Finance office of the apex bank’s branch in Kano, said, “A healthy cattle automatically leads to higher cattle yield, which translates to improve business for the local smallholder dairy farmers. We are committed to providing the support needed by all development partners to contribute meaningfully to the growth of the economy. Outspan is taking the steps that will lead to growth in the dairy value chain.”

Wakili Shehu, the Director of Kano State Institute of Horticulture, who represented the Permanent Secretary of the Kano State Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources, emphasised that “Through Outspan’s first vaccination exercise, the state has seen improvement in animal health and recorded a low incidence level of animal disease challenges.”

The Chairman of Kano Dairy Cooperative, Mr Usman Abdullahi, thanked Outspan for its consistent support for smallholder dairy farmers. He said all the farmers are grateful for the growth that their businesses have been able to record as a result of the support provided by the business.

Modupe Gbadeyanka

Modupe Gbadeyanka is a fast-rising journalist with Business Post Nigeria. Her passion for journalism is amazing. She is willing to learn more with a view to becoming one of the best pen-pushers in Nigeria. Her role models are the duo of CNN's Richard Quest and Christiane Amanpour.

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