The Kano State Government through its Agro-Pastoral Development Project, (KSADP) has awarded contracts worth N3.96 billion for the construction of 60 Milk Collection Centers across the state.
The contract is funded by the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) and the Lives and Livelihood Fund (LLF), officials said. It is in four lots and was awarded to four indigenous companies with a completion period of 12 months for each project.
The Project Communication Specialist for the project, Ameen Yassar, in a statement sent to PREMIUM TIMES late Tuesday, said: “Each milk collection centre will have a borehole equipped with a solar-powered pump and a 20,000-litre overhead tank; an inputs (feed, drugs) store managed by a community appointee and up to 10 fodder banks in its environs.”
“Every milk collection centre will have a 250-litre tank cooled by solar power and a milk testing bench with appropriate reagents/equipment as well as provision of milk collection cans,” Mr Yassar quoted the KSADP project coordinator, Ibrahim Garba, as saying.
The investment is unprecedented in Nigeria and will bridge the gap between pastoralists and the dairy industry, Mr Yassar said.
“One of the major problems of the dairy industry is supply inadequacy and poor quality of the milk. This milk collection centre project, therefore, aims to ensure the provision of quality and safe milk, by putting in place a cold chain. This will guarantee regular sales and income for the pastoralists.”
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Mr Garba charged the companies awarded the contracts to execute durable projects within the agreed time frame, to justify the confidence reposed in them, the spokesperson said.
The KSADP project is designed as a multifaceted food security, poverty alleviation, job creation, and conflict mitigation approach, through a partnership with the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) and the Lives and Livelihoods Funds.
The IsDB funded the project with $95 million. It has different components.
There are also livestock, irrigation infrastructure, and crop productivity components.
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