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EU Reaffirms Commitment to Supporting Diary Farmers Improve Productivity

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EU Reaffirms Commitment to Supporting Diary Farmers Improve Productivity

By: Michael Mike

The European Union (EU) has reaffirmed its commitment to support local dairy farmers in Nigeria, address the key challenges affecting the quality and quantity of milk produced by their cattle.

The EU identified the key challenges to include water shortage, the non affordability of vaccines and medicines, and impeded access to quality feed for cows.

Acknowledging the broader issues facing the dairy sector, the EU emphasised its plans to assist farmers in enhancing their storage capacity and improving critical production inputs such as feed and water. These efforts aim to boost the quality of dairy products, increase productivity, and ultimately raise farmer’s income.

A recent visit of an EU team to the Kaduna-based Naturell Dairy, a member of EuroCham Nigeria contributing to the growth of Nigeria’s dairy sector, was an opportunity to witness first-hand the successes and challenges of dairy farming and processing in Nigeria. Team Leader for Green and Digital Economy at the EU Delegation to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Inga Stefanowicz, explained that the visit was in the context of the rolling out of new EU support to agriculture in Nigeria, targeting the dairy sector, amongst others, with focus on incomes, jobs, and Micro, Small, and Medium-sized Enterprise (MSME) growth.

She noted that the goal is to improve the entire value chain from milk production and collection to transportation, processing, and storage ensuring greater efficiency and productivity.

Speaking to the plant employees and farmers, Stefanowicz explained that: “We are a donor organisation, providing the funding for many initiatives in Nigeria. We particularly recognise the importance and potential of agriculture in creating economic growth and jobs, but we also recognise the many challenges it faces. That’s why we want to support dairy producers, farmers who rear milk cows and others in the dairy value chain to the benefits of everyone, increasing incomes, opportunities and health of the population.”

She further stated that: “We’re here to assess what’s needed to help farmers raise both the quantity and quality of their milk production. We’re meeting with farmers, companies, and stakeholders in the value chain to better understand how to tailor our support. For example, feed quality directly impacts milk output, so it’s vital to address these concerns.”

She also noted that increased milk supply to processors like Naturell Dairy would not only boost production but also expand local access to dairy products, promote business growth, and create new income streams for rural communities.

Sales Manager at Naturell Dairy, Christian Idakwoji, highlighted the company’s role in sourcing milk directly from local farmers and supporting them through training and livelihood opportunities. “We collect milk organically from farmers’ home grown cows, providing them with a sustainable income. However, we face challenges in transporting the milk without spoilage due to a lack of cold storage infrastructure such as cooling vans and vehicles,” he said.

He added that while Naturell Dairy had established roadside cooling points and begun training farmers in proper milk handling, further support was needed in training for aggregators, and logistics to reduce spoilage and enhance efficiency.

Local dairy farmer, Abubakar Muhammed, expressed hope in the EU’s intervention, pointing to water scarcity, high vaccine costs, and inadequate feed as major hurdles. “We often fetch water from unhygienic streams. We urgently need access to clean water, quality feed, and affordable medication to improve our cows’ health, productivity, and our overall income,” he said.

Stephen Joshua, an aggregator with Naturell Dairy, also welcomed the EU’s involvement. “We’re pleased that the EU is stepping in to support dairy farmers. Most farmers here own about 40 cows each, but milk yields vary based on the quality of feed. On average, each cow produces only 2 litres daily. With EU support, we expect to see a reduction in milk spoilage and a significant boost in productivity,” he stated.

EU Reaffirms Commitment to Supporting Diary Farmers Improve Productivity

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Airstrike Hits ISWAP Enclave in Tumbuma Baba, scores Nutrialised

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Airstrike Hits ISWAP Enclave in Tumbuma Baba, scores Nutrialised

By: Zagazola Makama

The Nigerian Air Force (NAF), under the Air Component of Operation Hadin Kai (OPHK), conducted a successful Air Interdiction (AI) mission at a terrorists’ hideout in the Southern Tumbuns general area in the Lake Chad of Borno, killing scores of the terrorists.

Intelligent sources told Zagazola Makama that the precision air strike, which took place at about 2100 hours on 5 May 2025, targeted a major terrorists’ concentration camp located in the Tumbuma Baba axis of Lake Chad.

The sources said that the offensive was in continuation of a decisive Operation KALACHEN WUTA II, aimed at denying terrorists the freedom to execute large-scale attacks during the Eid el-Kabir period.

The sources said that Intelligence and Battle Damage Assessment (BDA) reports confirmed that several terrorists were neutralised during the strike, and key logistics under heavy foliage were destroyed.

The sources said that the strikes followed credible intelligence on planned coordinated attacks by the insurgents before, during, and after the Eid festivities. The mission was meticulously planned and executed to forestall such threats and sustain pressure on terrorist elements operating in the Lake Chad fringes.

“We observed significant secondary explosions, indicating the presence of arms and fuel storage. Multiple terrorists were seen fleeing the area, while several others were eliminated during the strike,” the source said.

The sources said efforts are ongoing to gather further feedback, as well as to assess the operational impact of the interdiction.

He added that preliminary signs suggest a high level of disarray and panic within the terrorists’ ranks, with reports of attempted regrouping under surveillance.

Airstrike Hits ISWAP Enclave in Tumbuma Baba, scores Nutrialised

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Nigerian Air Force Neutralises Terrorists in Successful Air Interdiction at Maisani

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Nigerian Air Force Neutralises Terrorists in Successful Air Interdiction at Maisani

By: Zagazola Makama

The Nigerian Air Component of Operation Hadin Kai have executed a coordinated strike on a major terrorist enclave located at Maisani in the Timbuktu Triangle general area of Borno State, killing several ISWAP terrorists.

Intelligence sources told Zagazola Makama that the air interdiction mission conducted on May 4, 2025, at approximately 1800 hours, was informed by credible intelligence and sustained surveillance, targeted terrorists’ structures cleverly concealed and camouflaged under thick shrubs in the area.

The sources said that using advanced platforms, the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) conducted a focused Air Interdiction (AI) mission, resulting in the destruction of the identified enemy hideouts and the neutralisation of an unconfirmed number of insurgent fighters.

According to the sources, Post-strike Battle Damage Assessment (BDA) obtained from our Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) platforms confirmed that the airstrike achieved its intended objectives, dealing a significant blow to terrorists.

Nigerian Air Force Neutralises Terrorists in Successful Air Interdiction at Maisani

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Nigeria Looks to World Bank to Tackle Challenges of National Capital Accounting

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Nigeria Looks to World Bank to Tackle Challenges of National Capital Accounting

By: Michael Mike

As the world marks the 2025 Environment Day, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has appealed to the World Bank for support on capacity building, data and in addressing the challenges poised by Natural Capital Accounting (NCA) in the country.

Head of Department, National Accounts Energy and Environment at the NBS, Dr. Baba Madu made the appeal at the 2025 Natural Capital Accounting (NCA) Conference on Thursday in Abuja with support from the World Bank in. collaboration with the NBS and the Federal Ministry of Environment.

Madu while noting that the NCA was a new area Nigeria must exploit to further boost the nation’s economy, said for Nigeria to grow and be at par with other developed nations, there was need to account for her natural resources.

He said: “NCA has been tasked with the crucial role of integrating natural capital into economic measurement. It is impossible to measure the economy accurately without accounting for natural resources. Issues such as environmental degradation, afforestation, desertification, and climate change all directly impact productivity.

“Productivity in turn, influences output—one of the core components of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). These environmental factors must be reflected across all economic activity sectors to present a more accurate picture of national output.”

While stating that Nigeria currently has data on NCA in Nigeria, the NBS official however raised concerns over the huge data gap from relevant Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) in the environment sector.

He said: “We are not doing badly but we need to improve on what we are doing. In terms of data sources, I can tell you there’s a big gap because these are new areas needed to be exploited.”

Programme Leader on Sustainable Development at the World Bank, Vina Vutukuru, said there was need to jointly
explore the vital role of national accounting in national development plans and to brainstorm on how Nigeria could institutionalize it.

He said: “Establishing the national capital accounting as part of the national account system will allow us to measure the economic value of ecosystem services such as clean air, water and biodiversity which are essential for our well-being and economic prosperity.”

Vutukuru commended Nigeria for having “very bold ambitions” as far as responding to climate change was concerned saying, “That shows the commitment of the policy makers here towards the issue of climate.

“But I think to back up that aspiration and the aggressive goals that Nigeria has set for itself, the foundational thing for those goals to materialize those objectives to come true is a very strong natural account system.”

Head of Media, National Council on Climate Change Secretariat (NCCCS), Chioma Azie who represented her Director General, Dr. Nkiruka Maduekwe at the event, described Nigeria as a very ambitious country, stressing that natural resources was instrumental to achieving all the objective of climate action.

She said: “Technology, policy reforms, behavioral changes has a role to play but natural resources is very key because they’re underpinning the mitigation and adaptation for climate action.

“If you look at Nigeria’s NDC, the NCA is an avenue to provide raw materials that we could use to develop mitigation and adaptation strategies.

“If you look at what we have done in terms of this NDC in 2020.which is the second leg of the NDC, we identified a lot of mitigation activities within this mentioned sectors of ours. In agricultural sector we talked about smart agriculture. What is smart agriculture without natural resources?

“We talked about biomass, what is biomass without natural resources? We also spoke about land use changes and that is natural resources, we talk about natural solutions and we talked about also afforestation, reafforestation. Those are mitigation potentials of our NDC. So, we cannot achieve our NDC without SEEA.

“What you cannot be able to account for is recorded as if it is not done so if we know what is existing in terms of the reservoirs we have for natural resources, it can inform the scope of the mitigation activities we’re going to be imputing in the NDC 3.0,” she said.

Nigeria Looks to World Bank to Tackle Challenges of National Capital Accounting

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