FrieslandCampina WAMCO Fetes 1,000 Dairy Farmers.
- “We are not only committed to providing affordable dairy products, we are also charged with the responsibility of increasing local milk sourcing and ensuring consumers, children and our dairy farmers enjoy the goodness of milk every day,” Langat said.
FrieslandCampina WAMCO, said it has treated over 1000 dairy farmers to a surprise Peak Breakfast as part of activities to celebrate the 2019 World Milk Day.
Addressing farmers at the event in Iseyin, Oyo State, the managing director, FrieslandCampina WAMCO, Mr. Ben Langat, commended the dairy farmers under its Dairy Development Programme (DDP) across 90 communities on the progress made so far, especially their recent record of supplying 27,045 liters of milk in one day, years after the first 400 litres daily collection to Fashola in 2011.
Langat however charged the farmers to increase their raw milk yield to justify the company’s plan to set up a Milk Processing Centre within the environs.
“We are not only committed to providing affordable dairy products, we are also charged with the responsibility of increasing local milk sourcing and ensuring consumers, children and our dairy farmers enjoy the goodness of milk every day,” Langat said.
It is pertinent to note that FrieslandCampina WAMCO currently has five milk collection centres, 10 milk collection points and 10 currently under construction across various communities in Oyo State.
He noted that as part of the activities organised by the company to celebrate the World Milk Day this year, it was important to celebrate the dairy farmers from where the Grass to Glass process begins. This year, the company leveraged on the ongoing Ramadan fast by treating the dairy farmers and their families to a nourishing feast of milk infused meals at Iftar when they broke their fast.
Vice president of the Nutrition Society of Nigeria (NSN), Prof. Wasiu Afolabi, was also at the event to engage and educate the farmers on the importance of consuming milk regularly, explaining how it helps support healthy lifestyles for both children and adults.
World Milk Day is celebrated every June 1 and was established by United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization. It is an opportunity to raise global awareness on the importance of milk as a healthy diet, responsible food production and supporting dairy farm communities.
Since 2011, FrieslandCampina WAMCO has been working together with the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD) on its Dairy Development Programme (DDP) to improve local sourcing of milk in alignment with national development goals.
As the pioneer of the dairy development programme (DDP) in Nigeria, the company has enhanced the technical capacity and knowledge of over 3,500 local dairy farmers which includes 900 women. It has also helped to develop new institutional capacities, policies and practices around dairy development that benefits both small holder farmers and pastoralists for a sustainable local dairy sector.
