Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Security, Sabi Abdullahi, has said implementation of the National Dairy Policy will save $1.5 billion spent annually on milk importation.
The minister, who spoke on this year’s World Milk Day, noted the Federal Government would galvanise stakeholders to implement the policy to boost food production.
Addressing reporters in Abuja, Abdullahi noted the challenges of the sector and pledged support of the Federal Government to address them.
The minister said with an estimated two million children suffering from severe acute malnutrition (SAM) partly due to limited consumption of animal-source food, milk consumption becomes important in addressing the situation.
He said the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) reported Nigeria spends $1.5 billion yearly to import dairy products.
According to him, this is because of Nigeria’s production deficit, which is nearly 60 per cent as we consume an average of 1.6 billion litres of milk and dairy products yearly.
Abdullahi said: “These and many more formed the foundation upon which the National Dairy Policy was developed as the radar for the journey of transformation of this industry in Nigeria over the next years.
“I want to assure you that the President is concerned and wants a reversal of the negative state of the dairy industry. Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security is ready for the challenges as we work hard to renew the hope of dairy value chain actors.
