Nigeria, Africa’s populous country, is planning to grow its local dairy industry rather than depend on imports from other African and overseas nation. Like many other African countries, the West African nation does not produce enough dairy products to meet demand from its 170 million people. Demand for milk has surged on the continent over the recent years as more people leaving farming in rural areas and head to urban areas in search for better jobs and income levels rise in line with improving economic activity.
The dairy industry in the West African country, which contributed about $1.7 billion in revenue to the Nigerian economy in 2013, has suffered the wrath of years of lack of investment in developing infrastructure to support farmers. Despite having more than 10 percent of the world’s cattle population, Africa contributes less than 3 percent to global milk production but spends more than $500 million every year on milk imports from Europe and North America, while thousands of its cattle farmers remain poor. Read more on Nigeria’s diary industry here.