Milk Imports Rise to N27bn Despite Forex Restriction in Q1
A report by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has shown that N27,664 billion was used to import the milk in the country despite the federal government effort to ensure self-sufficiency in milk production and also placing restrictions on access to foreign exchange (forex).
The report titled: “Foreign Trade Statistics”, noted that milk was imported from four countries.
The commodity, which is labelled “milk preparations containing vegetable fats/oils, powdered/granular, packings” indicated that the bulk of it was purchased from Ireland at N16.1bn, followed by Malaysia at N5.5bn, Germany at N4.8bn and France at N1bn.
Also Read: CBN To Ban $1.2bn Annual Forex For Milk, Other Dairy Products
Even though the figure was a N4bn reduction from what was bought in Q4 2021, the reduction is not enough for the federal government to achieve its aim of banning the importation of the commodity this year.
Meanwhile, in 2020, Sabo Nanono, the former Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development stated that the federal government was set to ban milk importation by 2022 due to efforts put in place by the ministry for availability of resources for local production.
Also, recall that in 2019 the CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele expressly says milk and other dairy products would be restricted from access to foreign exchange both at the official and parallel markets if they refuse to invest in ranches, a move he said would quell the ongoing farmers-herders crisis.
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That the move would be actualised through the Agro Processing Productivity Enhancement and Livelihood Improvement Support Project (APPEALS) that would lead to a N600bn loan support to farmers across the country.
He pointed out that with over 25 million cows available in the country, five million litres could be produced per day to jettison importation.
His comments followed the addition of milk into the list of items that would no longer have access to the official exchange rate by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), with the exemption of six companies, FrieslandCampina WAPCO Nigeria, Chi Limited, TG Arla Dairy Products Limited, Promasidor Nigeria, Nestle Nigeria and Integrated Dairies Limited.
It explained that, “About three years ago we began a policy to encourage backward integration to conserve foreign exchange and create jobs for our people. Included in this policy package was the introduction of the highly successful policy which restricted the sale of forex from the Nigerian foreign exchange market for the importation of some 43 items goods that could be produced in Nigeria.
“Arising from the success of the restriction policy, we approached some milk importers, as we did for rice, tomato and starch, and asked them to take advantage of CBN’s low-interest loans to begin local milk production instead of relying endlessly on imports.
“Today, although there have been some successful attempts at producing milk locally, the vast majority of the importers still treat this national aspiration with imperial contempt.”
In spite of this, interest groups from the manufacturing sector fought against the measure, saying that it would lead to inflation since the country was still struggling to produce sufficient food.
