Damakka disclosed this at the opening of a four-day workshop on the Green Harvest Initiative: Cultivating Prosperity for Northern Nigeria’s Cattle Value Chain” on Wednesday in Kano.
He said the initiative was a collaborative effort led by L & Z Integrated Farms, supported by the Nigeria 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 programme is designed to address the persistent challenge of limited fodder availability, enhance livelihoods and promote sustainable growth in the dairy sector.
“The Green Harvest Initiative presents a bold strategy for transforming the cattle value chain in Northern Nigeria by addressing low productivity and limited access to quality fodder.
“It seeks to empower smallholder herders and revitalise the dairy industry, thereby creating positive socio-economic and environmental impacts,” he said.
Damakka explained that the programme would tackle fodder shortages affecting milk yield, income and herders’ well-being through capacity building, resource provision and innovative supply chain strategies.
He added that the project would enable herders to earn higher prices per litre of milk, ensure consistent supply of high-quality milk to the farms and create additional income through the sale of surplus fodder.
Also speaking, the Director-General of NABG, Mr Jafar Umar, said the training would equip dairy farmers with good agricultural practices to promote hygiene, protect the environment and maximise benefits from their activities. (NAN)