Experts in the agric sector, especially those in the dairy subsector, have called for an all-inclusive approach towards improving the availability of critical data to assist new entrants.
The unavailability of such data is said to be one of the major setbacks to the growth and development of the sector; therefore, the experts are calling for a strategic action that would bring transformion. This, they said, would go a long way in assisting the growth and development of the Nigerian economy.
They warned that the drive towards self-sufficiency in dairy products would not be successful if stakeholders continued to make decisions ‘blindly’ by relying on stale data or no data at all.
In his article titled, Strategic Actions to Transform Nigeria’s Dairy Sector: Investing in Reliable Industry Data, Mr Dianabasi Akpainyang of the Commercial Dairy Ranchers Association of Nigeria (CODARAN) said Nigeria’s dairy sector was suffering from a dearth of reliable data.
“Business managers, investors, regulators, development partners and other stakeholders are virtually groping in the dark when data is required for decision making in the sector,” he said.
He explained that up till February 2021, there was no easily accessible data on the monthly volumes and value of imported milk into Nigeria and no aggregated data to track annual milk import figures.
He said the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) only had information on dairy imports by companies that purchased foreign exchange through the official window, insisting that not all importers of milk and dairy products sourced foreign exchange from the apex bank.
“The list of countries of origin of Nigeria’s milk imports and top milk importers is also not available,’’ he added.
The livestock expert, however, noted that Nigeria’s dairy industry was developing, adding that within its value chain lay huge potentials for maximum investment returns.
Akpainyang said smart business managers understood and appreciated the place of reliable data in making informed business decisions, adding that it boosted process and cost efficiency and drove strategy and change.
He also noted that like every other industry, Nigeria’s dairy industry offered both risks and returns, adding, however, that some of the risks were the result of systemic and environmental issues, which could stand in the way of the best and smartest business decisions, especially as the necessary data is not available.
Need for urgent investment in data collection
According to Akpainyang, reliable data is critical to sound decision making. Data provides decision makers with patterns and trends, which may give rise to objective decisions.
“Government interventions and those of development agencies may end up as white elephant projects if they are not directed at areas of need. Also, government policies would be futile if there are no parameters to measure effectiveness and track progress. To achieve these, reliable data have to be collated and made accessible,” he said.
He said, “Granted that some research institutions in the country and development agencies have conducted studies and surveys, which have yielded some data on the industry that can be relied upon, there is still the pressing need to harmonise and consolidate available data for easy accessibility and retrieval.
Akpainyang also said opportunities abounded in the sector if the right things were done. He said the government, development agencies, industry groups, research institutions and corporate organisations needed to make targeted investments to enrich the quality of activities and make the industry more productive.
