Milk is an important source of nutrients recommended for vitality and to healthy growth. Surveys indicate that about 6 billion people consume milk worldwide, making cow milk and animal rearing an integral part of human culture.
Hundreds of Fulani women make a living selling milk to individuals and groups, who in turn, consume or process it for commercial purposes.
It is in recognition of the importance of milk to human existence and in order to reduce the risk associated with its consumption that the Kano State Agro-pastoral Development Project (KSADP) is investing the sum of $8.03 million to establish 100 milk collection centres in Kano to support herdsmen that feed the milk production industries.
The Cow Milk Marketers Association at Kofar Wambai market was supported with a cold storage facility to ensure hygiene and the quality of the milk.
The chairman of the association in Kano, Alhaji Muhammad Alaramma, said dairy business is booming following the intervention of the state government through the KSADP, which donated the cold storage facility to the association.
“At least 50,000 litres of milk is sold daily, but sometimes we do not have up to that because milk is scarce in Kano nowadays. People bring it from Jos, Bauchi, Jama’are and other places.
“The storage facility given to us really helps, but the challenge is that we have no provision for solar electricity, so we made arrangement with someone to hire part of our place, who in return supplies us with electricity, using his generator. We are charging N200 for every bucket of milk stored here from our members, who are about 20,000,” the chairman told Weekend Trust.
Processed milk can easily get contaminated if not preserved, which can impact on human health. Seventy per cent of human diseases can be linked to animals. And consumption of unhygienic milk can, therefore, be a big risk.
The Kano State Agro-pastoral Development Project, funded by the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) and the Lives and Livelihood Fund (LLF), is building 100 milk collection centres in Kano to improve market access and value addition, as well as address milk supply inadequacy and poor quality of milk in the dairy business.
A livestock specialist at the KSADP, Dr Garba Saleh, explained that the milk collection centres are being established to collect milk from pastoralists for onward distribution to dairy producers.
“The idea is to ensure hygiene and quality of the milk, such that all essential ingredients are not destroyed. Without a collection centre you can easily lose essential nutrients in the milk.
“Under the project, 100 MCC would be established. So far, only 40 were completed,” the livestock specialist said.
According to him, each one of the milk collection centres is expected to store at least 28,000 litres per week, giving an average of 15 million litres annually.
Twenty-five pastoralists are expected to serve each MCC, which is expected to generate $2,945.33 per week, translating into $11,780 per month and $141,360 per annum, giving a cumulative sum of $1,413,6000 from the 100 MCC per annum.
Each collection centre is solar-powered and equipped with a stainless cooling tank, filters, pump, water heater, sanitary wares, milk testing kits (refractor-meter),milk collection can, boreholes with elevated tanks.
So far, five centres were built in Doguwa, four each in Albasu and Danbatta, 3 each in Dansoshiya in Kiru Local Government Area, Garko, Garun Malam, Tofa, Kura and Dawakin Tofa.
Muhammad Major, a Fulani herdsman in Dansoshiya, however, told Weekend Trust that the centre in his area, though completed, is yet to begin operation, but herders are generally happy and welcome the idea.
“The centre is completed here at Dansoshiya but is not yet operational. So we are taking our milk to Kano to sell. Once this place begins operation, I will just take my milk there and collect my money without having to transport it to Kano, thereby saving money,” the 52-year-old man said.
Established entities like L and Z, in addition to their private milk collection centres, make use of the centres created by the KSADP to support their businesses.
Many others in the industry use powdered milk and soybeans to complement what is made available from local producers of milk that is largely inadequate.
Hauwa’u Abubakar, a Fulani woman who brings milk (nono) from Bunkure to Kano, said they have no such centre in their area. She spends N1,000 transport fare to reach Kano, and sells an average of 3 to 5 buckets of milk on each trip. A bucket costs about N6,500.
“I come everyday from Bunkure to this place (Kano Line, near Kofar Nasarawa) with between 3 and 5 buckets of milk (nono).We sell each bucket at N6,500. Some buy from here and take to Kofar Wambai market to resale, but I prefer to stay here and sell because of the added transportation cost,” she said.
Abdulmuddalibi Sani, who is into Fura da nono business, buys his milk from the Fulani women at the Kano Line depot. Sani said he bought at least 6 buckets of milk because it is cheaper when compared to Kofar Wambai, where middlemen take advantage of the situation to add a little amount.
He said small stakeholders milk sellers like him were facing stiff competition from big dairy firms like L and Z, who have private collection centres buying directly from the producers.
“Big people who buy directly from the Fulani women in the villages are responsible for the scarcity and rise in the price of milk. I have been in the business for a very long time; the prices were not this high,” Sani said.
Another milk seller, Awwal Sa’id said he bought between five and six buckets, adding that what attracts him to the place is that Kofar Wambai market is overcrowded and middlemen impose prices.
Prospects, challenges
The livestock specialist at KSADP, Dr Garba Saleh believes that the diary business has a lot of potentials with a bright future. According to him, though at the moment Nigeria is not producing enough milk for local consumption, the country can export finished diary products to the outside world if the potentials of the industry are harnessed and supported.
He said countries like Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda developed their diary production through supporting and empowering small stakeholder farmers to supply to the global market.
However, local breeds still remain a big challenge. According to Dr Saleh, local breeds produce a small quantity of milk, just 3 to 5 litres, unlike the foreign breeds which produce 50 litres of milk per day.
He said local grasses are not very nutritious and rearing animals without grazing fields is not profitable.
To address the challenge, he said the KSADP was working on a 3,000-hectare land, where improved and new varieties of fodders are grown. The new varieties like Nafia, Stylo and Gamba are being introduced.
The KSADP is also working on artificial insemination on local breeds to give them the characteristics and quality of foreign breeds.
The creation of the Ministry of Livestock Development can change the narrative by facilitating provision of improved pasture for livestock, which in turn would enhance milk production in large quantities, and therefore, more profitable.
The KSADP project is aimed at supporting animal production, market access and value