By Ahmad Saleem
The Founder and Managing Director of L&Z Integrated Farms, Muhammadu Abubakar Damakka, has said that over 4,000 smallholder dairy farmers in Kano State are expected to benefit from the Green Harvest Initiative, a project aimed at addressing fodder shortages and strengthening the cattle value chain in Northern Nigeria.
Damakka stated this at the commencement of a four-day workshop under the Green Harvest Initiative: Cultivating Prosperity for Northern Nigeria’s Cattle Value Chain.
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He explained that the initiative is a collaborative effort led by L&Z Integrated Farms, supported by the Nigerian Agribusiness Group (NABG) and the Commercial Dairy Ranchers Association of Nigeria (CODARAN), and funded through the Matching Grant Fund (MGF) under the GIZ Agri-Business Facility for Africa (ABF) project.
According to him, the project is designed to address limited availability of quality fodder, enhance livelihoods and promote sustainable growth in the dairy sector.
“The Green Harvest Initiative presents a bold strategy for revolutionising the cattle value chain in Northern Nigeria by addressing the root cause of low productivity and restricted access to quality fodder,” Damakka said.
He noted that inadequate fodder supply has continued to affect milk yield, income levels and the overall wellbeing of sedentary smallholder herders in the region.
He said the intervention would empower herders through capacity building, provision of resources and innovative supply chain strategies aimed at improving fodder production and access.
Damakka added that improving fodder availability would help boost milk production and enable herders to earn better prices per litre, thereby increasing household incomes and improving living standards.
He further stated that the initiative would revitalise the local dairy industry by ensuring consistent and high-quality milk supply to processors such as L&Z Integrated Farms, which sources more than 60 per cent of its raw milk from smallholder herders.
The project, he said, would also create additional income opportunities for farmers through the sale of surplus fodder, while contributing to climate change mitigation and improved operating conditions within the cattle value chain in Kano and Jigawa states.
He described the workshop as the first major step in implementing the initiative, expressing optimism that the programme would drive socio-economic and environmental transformation across Northern Nigeria’s dairy sector.
