We "ll develop national assets to preserve our farm produce


R-L; Minister of Trade and Investment, Mr Okechukwu Enelamah, The Netherlands Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr.John Groffen, President Muhammadu Buhari,  Global CEO Friesland Campina, The Netherland, Mr. Roelof Joosten,  Chairman Board of Director PrieslandCampina, WAMCO, Mr Jacob Moyo Ajekigbe, Managing Director FrieslandCampina WAMCO, Nigeria Plc, Mr Rauhul Colaco, Dairy Development Manager, Mr Lawrence Ohue during an audience with Team of FrieslandCampina at the State House in Abuja PHOTO; SUNDAY AGHAEZE.


ABUJA-President Muhammadu Buhari has said that his government would work towards the development of national assets to preserve many farm produce.

To this end, the president decried the culture of waste which he said had been foisted on the country, due to lack of means of preservation of agricultural products.

The president spoke while receiving the Global Chief Executive Officer of Friesland Campina, The Netherlands, Mr Roelf Joosten, at the State House, Abuja on Tuesday.

Also on the delegation of the Global CEO was the Managing Director of Friesland Campina WAMCO, Mr Rahul Colaco.

President Buhari lamented the "situation in which cattle farmers throw away milk from their animals, because there is no means of preserving and processing the product," assuring that he would change the situation.

He said: "We have failed to develop our assets on a permanent basis. This, we are determined to work on".

He urged Friesland Campina, in its collaboration with Nigeria, to educate cattle farmers that "quality matters more than quantity," and help them organize into cooperatives for better business.

A statement by Mr. Femi Adesina, the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity stated that the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbe, who was also at the event, promised that herdsmen would soon be organized into ranches in the country, with special grasses and water, which will give better yield, and make the animals healthier.

According to the statement, Ogbeh also disclosed that special flasks, which "can preserve raw milk for up to six hours, would soon be made available, enabling cattle farmers to get the product to dairies in good quality."

Similarly, Mr. Joosten disclosed that Friesland Campina was a cooperative owned by 19,000 farmers, and was 145 years old.

He revealed that the company began business in Nigeria in 1973 as Friesland Campina WAMCO Nigeria, stressing that the company wanted to partner with the Federal Government to build a healthier populace through better nutrition and also collaborate in the school feeding programme, promote dairy development in the country.


It has also been providing nutrition support for internally displaced persons in the insurgency ravaged North-East.

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