Olam Agri is expanding its Nigerian animal-feed business into cattle production with the launch of its “True Value” beef and dairy cattle feed, building on its $150 million investment in Nigeria’s animal-feed and poultry value chain as the company targets a livestock market with tens of millions of cattle, sheep and goats.
The expansion could unlock new investment in commercial feedlots, meat processing, dairy production, cold-chain logistics and livestock transportation as the Federal Government seeks to move Nigeria’s livestock industry towards more productive and commercially organised value chains.
Nigeria has one of Africa’s largest livestock populations, with the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) estimating about 55 million cattle, 139 million goats and 65 million sheep. Yet productivity remains constrained by inadequate feed, weak infrastructure, animal-health challenges and underdeveloped processing and marketing systems.
Mukhtar Idi Maiha, minister of Livestock Development, said at the product unveiling in Kaduna on Wednesday that access to affordable and nutritionally balanced feed was fundamental to raising livestock productivity and developing a commercially viable beef and dairy industry under the government’s Livestock Economic Advancement Programme (LEAP).
