Agric secretary trains pastoralists on milk processing

The Agricultural and Rural Development Secretariat (ARDS) of the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has embarked on training of pastoralists on hygienic processing of dairy products. The two-day capacity building workshop for Diary Cooperative Groups in the FCT was organised by the ARDS in Bwari and Gwagwalada area councils. The pastoralists who were drawn from […]

The Agricultural and Rural Development Secretariat (ARDS) of the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has embarked on training of pastoralists on hygienic processing of dairy products.

The two-day capacity building workshop for Diary Cooperative Groups in the FCT was organised by the ARDS in Bwari and Gwagwalada area councils.

The pastoralists who were drawn from the six area councils of the FCT were taught by a team of experts on methods of hygienic milk processing to improve the quality and market value of their milk and enhance their incomes and better their livelihood.

Speaking at the end of workshop, the Director of Animal Husbandry Services at ARDS, Hajiya Umma Abubakar, said the livestock sub-sector held untapped potentials in the production and processing value chain.

She said ARDS would follow up on trainees after the workshop so as to monitor their progress and provide them with necessary assistance.

The director said, “We trained pastoralists, who own 90 per cent or more of the national herds of cattle and milk production in the country, because what we need to do is to enhance the way milk is produced and handled so as to ensure that there is no contamination or adulteration.

She stressed that, “We are going to strengthen dairy cooperative groups so that they will aggregate milk and pave way for private processors that are ready to uptake the milk from them. We have to train and give them the equipment for quality milk production and handling.”

She added that, “We are starting with this group because they produce the milk, and we want to improve the quality of the small quantity of the milk they are producing.”