Nigeria Dairy Programme Closes After Enrolling 63,261 Smallholder Farmers
The six-year Advancing Local Dairy Development in Nigeria programme has closed after enrolling 63,261 smallholder farmers across seven northern states and linking them to formal processors. Participants supplied more than 15 million litres of milk and recorded sales above ₦6 billion. A 2026 audit found the share of non-viable cooperatives fell from 33% to 8%.
A six-year programme to draw Nigerian smallholder dairy farmers into formal supply chains has closed after enrolling 63,261 producers across seven northern states, according to figures reported by dairynews.today from the project closeout event in Kano.
The Advancing Local Dairy Development in Nigeria (ALDDN) programme ran from 2020 in Adamawa, Bauchi, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Plateau and Taraba. It was funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and implemented by Sahel Consulting Agriculture & Nutrition Limited, which worked with government agencies, dairy processors and private-sector organisations. Temi Adegoroye, managing partner at Sahel Consulting, presented the enrolment figures at the closeout.
Volumes, sales and cooperative structure
Over the life of the programme, participating farmers supplied more than 15 million litres of milk to partner processors and recorded milk sales exceeding ₦6 billion, Sahel Consulting said. Farmers were organised into 2,663 self-help groups, while 234 cooperatives were established and registered with state governments.
A 2026 audit recorded a change in cooperative status. The share classified as moderately viable rose from 66% to 90%, while the proportion described as non-viable fell from 33% to 8%. Aggregation matters commercially because formal buyers contract with registered entities rather than with individual herders.
Animal health, training and feed
The programme reported 83,963 cattle services against a target of 75,000, and 83,936 cattle vaccinations against Contagious Bovine Pleuropneumonia. Delivery figures also included:
- More than 61,000 farmers trained in Good Dairy Practices
- 279 Community Livestock Workers engaged to provide local services
- Fodder cultivated on more than 4,705 hectares, above an initial target of 4,000 hectares
Collection equipment and solar infrastructure
The programme supplied eight milk-evacuation trucks and 7,676 stainless-steel milk cans, equipment that determines how much raw milk reaches a processor in usable condition. Infrastructure support included a solar-powered facility at Sebore Farms with a stated processing capacity of 70,000 litres of milk a day. The programme also supported 75 solar-powered boreholes in 74 communities.
Kano consolidation and the handover
In Kano, more than 150 small pastoralist groups were consolidated into 24 larger cooperatives, and farmers received instruction in animal nutrition, milk production, livestock health and artificial insemination. About 13 solar-powered boreholes were provided in communities supplying processor L&Z, alongside annual vaccination campaigns. Senior Programme Officer Mustapha Musa said the intervention linked organised pastoralist cooperatives with processors including L&Z.
Hawwa'u Abubakar, a beneficiary from Bunkure Local Government Area, said L&Z collected milk from her doorstep, reducing the need to transport it to market. She said her earnings could reach ₦100,000 to ₦150,000 over several days depending on the quantity supplied, and attributed the expansion of her dairy activities partly to feed-processing equipment and other programme support.
After the programme concluded, farmers were integrated into partner processors supply chains, while extension agents, artificial-insemination technicians, Community Livestock Workers and other service providers were trained and equipped to continue assisting producers. Sahel Consulting called for continued government engagement with pastoralist cooperatives and closer co-operation between public institutions and private processors.
