FG Blames High Food Import Bill On Population Explosion

The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Sabo Nanono has said that the gap between supply and demand for food and dairy products is widening as a result of increase in population and urbanisation.

Currently, milk and diary production in Nigeria, with over 201 million people has remained less than 20 percent of annual consumption.

The Minister said the poor production capacity has led to continuous rise in the value of food imports, stating that Nigeria currently spends over N1.8trn on food imports, with milk and diary products imports amounting to N568.5 bn ($1.5bn).

Speaking at the National diary policy stakeholders meeting in Abuja, Nanono, explained that local production of milk and diary products currently accounts for less than 20 percent of the annual consumption, as Nigeria’s milk production accounted for only 13 per cent of West African production and 0.01 per cent of global dairy output.

He said, “The gap between supply and demand for dairy products is widening as a result of increase in population and urbanisation.

“The per capita consumption of milk is eight litres per year representing very low consumption levels when compared with the global averages of 44 litres of milk.”

He noted that the Nigerian dairy industry which is largely subsistence, consist of local milk production, importation, processing, marketing and consumption.

The Minister said, “About $5bn (N1.89tn) worth of food is imported yearly into the country out of which milk and dairy products account for $1.2bn to $1.5bn.

“The annual dairy consumption is met by 60 per cent imports and 40 per cent local production.”

According to him, the long neglect of the livestock sector has put a lot of burden on the import bills of the country.

“The need to harness our potentials in the dairy sector’ to address contemporary critical socio-economic and national herd management issues has induced renewed interest in the development of the Diary particularly in recognition of the nutritional and livelihood importance of milk and other dairy products in Nigeria,” he added.

The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Ernest Umakhihe in his remark said that Nigeria is far from achieving sufficiency in dairy production given the poor yield annually.

In order to bridge the gap between demand and supply of the diary products, he said the nation has continued to spend huge amount on the importation of dairy products.

He said, “The proposed policy, therefore, is to give defined direction for the country’s dairy industry where all players at whatever scale will be expected to abide by the rules of operation, in terms of production, processing and marketing of dairy products in Nigeria”.

In his remarks, the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Otunba Richard Adeniyi Adebayo, stated that the essence of the policy is not to puncture the existing success recorded in the dairy industry but rather to strengthen it, in line with the Nigerian Industrial Revolution Plan.

He assured that the government will consider and harness the inputs, observations and contributions arising from the engagement with a view to taking a position that will be in the best interest of the dairy industry and the economy in general.