FrieslandCampina, a global dairy company, has announced a $5 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to help boost dairy productivity and the sustainability of the Nigerian dairy sector.

The grant will provide support for the Value4Dairy Consortium, a collaboration of four strategic partners with expertise in various agri-related value chains: FrieslandCampina WAMCO (a Nigerian subsidiary of FrieslandCampina), URUS (a global leader in artificial insemination, genetics, and herd management systems), Barenbrug (a grass and forage seed company), and Agrifirm (a global company that operates in the animal nutrition and crop farming business). The grant will help fund approximately 50 percent of the consortium’s efforts to modernize the Nigerian dairy sector and bolster small-scale milk production. To that end, the consortium will establish three self-sustaining dairy zones that will be run by local farmer cooperatives in three Nigerian states: Oyo, Osun, and Abuja. The zones will serve as hubs for training and supporting 10,000 pastoralists and smallholders initially. The effort is expected to eventually include 40,000 milk producers.

While the program is focused on dairy sector transformation, it also will contribute to improving food security, increasing farmer incomes, enhancing nutrition, reducing conflicts between herders and farmers, improving water access, and lowering greenhouse gas emission intensity. In addition, the program will include interventions designed to empower women to become more involved in the industry.

“FrieslandCampina has a longstanding commitment to building local resilient dairy value chains,” said FrieslandCampina global dairy development director Jeroen Elfers. “FrieslandCampina is committed to the growth and development of the Nigerian dairy sector and works with its partners in the Value4Dairy Consortium to support the development of a more robust dairy infrastructure. We are very pleased with the grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, as it will enable us to accelerate the project. It also makes it possible to build a more robust program for the transition toward a sustainable, self-sufficient and inclusive dairy value chain in Nigeria.”

(Photo credit: Getty Images/Oluwafemi Stephens)