Nigeria and Tanzania launch major livestock and dairy sector reforms

Nigeria and Tanzania are launching major initiatives to modernize their livestock and dairy sectors.

In Nigeria, President Bola Tinubu has set a goal to more than double the livestock sector's contribution to the national economy, increasing it from $32 billion to over $64 billion. The strategy aims to transform Nigeria into a regional hub for livestock production and processing. Key components include institutional reforms following the 2024 establishment of the Federal Ministry of Livestock Development, improving veterinary services, and promoting climate-adapted farming systems. The government also intends to boost local dairy production to reduce heavy spending on imports.

Meanwhile, Tanzania has launched a ten-year, $231 million project designed to transform its dairy sector and enhance climate resilience. The initiative expects to benefit over 700,000 farmers by improving access to water, pastures, and selected cattle breeds, as well as implementing better disease control. The project aims to bridge the gap between Tanzania's current annual production of 4 billion liters of milk and a domestic demand of 13 billion liters. It will focus on creating collection and transport systems to connect farmers to processors and reduce post-production losses.