ACADEMIC staff and technologists drawn from the University of Ibadan, Kwara State University and Federal College of Animal Health and Production Technology, Ibadan, are currently undergoing a tailor-made training in dairy value chains.
The training domiciled at the Department of Animal Science, University of Ibadan, is a Nuffic/Orange programme sponsored by the Netherlands government under the supervision of Aeres University of Applied Sciences, Dronten, the Netherlands.
Speaking with the Nigerian Tribune shortly after the opening ceremony, Mrs Atinuke Akinyemi of the Federal College of Animal Health and Production Technology, Ibadan, who is also the president, Netherlands institutions alumni association, Aeres University chapter, said the training came to be because of the underdevelopment of dairy farming in Nigeria.
JUST IN: Presidential retreat for ministers-designate kicks off
“We discovered that a lot is going around dairy farming or cattle farming as a whole. And so three institutions came together that is University of Ibadan, Kwara State University and Federal College of Animal Health and Production, to write a tailor-made training proposal to our alma mater, Aeres University, to be sponsored by The Netherlands government and so we competed with 50 countries and we won the training for Nigeria.”
Akinyemi further hinted that five participants from each institution were selected for the training.
“Three people came together: Dr Sola Olorunnisomo; Dr Mrs Dupe Ogunbosoye and myself to write the proposal and to the glory of God we won,” She said.
Representative of Aeres University, Ms Ciska Anema, while speaking with the Nigerian Tribune stated that the capacity building training would no doubt impact meaningfully on the development of Nigeria’s dairy value chain as crop of seasoned resource persons have been selected to take participants on the rudiments of quality and effective dairy production.
While addressing the participants and other guests, the Vice-Chancellor, University of Ibadan, Professor Idowu Olayinka, represented by the deputy vice-chancellor (Administration), Professor Kayode Adebowale, said there is a challenge in managing Nigeria’s cattle resources because of the normadic nature that cattle has to travel long distance positing that this usually results to very low milk production.
“Even in The Netherlands, the quantity of milk that you get from a cattle is not less than 50 litres, in Israel, it is 65 litres of milk per day per cattle. Therefore, we want to just stimulate interest so that we would be able to see how to develop our management system concerning our cattle.
“This training is like a train-the-trainers. Actually, academic staff that are conducting their research on dairy and dairy products, so that it would be able to give them capacity building and train them so that they will in turn be able to train others and all in the direction of our economic and national development.”
Representative of Kwara State University at the event, Professor Stephen Kayode Subair, who is the Dean, Post Graduate School of the institution said that the dairy sector in the country is at the lowest ebb. “We hope that when the participants are trained they would be able to bring forth the knowledge acquired to bear on the development of dairy value chain.”
The Provost, Federal College of Animal Health and Production Technology, Ibadan, Dr mrs Olufunmilayo Adejinmi, represented by the Head, Department of Agric Extension of the institution, Dr mrs Grace Alonge thanked the Netherlands government for sponsoring the training pledging that the huge investment in the training would not be a waste.
and then