By Adam Said Adam, Kano
The Jigawa State Government is exploring a strategic partnership with the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) of India with the focus of strengthening livestock development and expanding dairy production across the state.
Governor Malam Umar Namadi disclosed this while receiving a high-powered delegation from the NDDB, led by Mr. Rajesh O. Gupta, on a courtesy visit to Government House, Dutse.
- Jigawa’s 100,000-hectare Alfalfa Project targets 2m tonnes, $540m annual exports
- FG commissions livestock facilities at NAPRI
The visit follows the Governor’s earlier engagement with Indian dairy institutions during his official visit to India sometime last year, where discussions were initiated on possible areas of collaboration to transform Jigawa’s livestock sector.
Welcoming the delegation, Governor Namadi described the visit as highly important for the state’s agricultural development, saying that the engagement with NDDB forms part of the state government’s broader strategy to reposition the livestock sector and improve the livelihoods of farmers and pastoral communities.
“This visit, we consider it very, very important because this visit is following our visit to India, where we had discussions with NDDB management. Part of the agreement we did at that time was that your team will visit, so your coming today has justified that agreement,” the Governor said.
Governor Namadi stated that the climatic similarities between India and Nigeria make it possible for Jigawa State to learn from India’s successful dairy development model.
“And what we have also seen when we were in India is that the climatic condition of India and Nigeria is almost the same. So it means whatever we want to do, climate will never be a problem because the climate condition is almost the same.”
The governor also stressed the importance of adopting elements of India’s cooperative-based dairy system, which has helped transform the country into the world’s largest milk producer.
