The Federal Government has concluded arrangements with a Denmark-based dairy company, Arla Foods, to address myriads challenges confronting the nation’s dairy industry.
The  Minister of State for Agriculture, Hon. Heineken Lokpobiri, in company of other officials of the ministry reached an agreement with the firm at the official opening of its global innovation centre in Denmark.
According to the company, the innovation centre will serve Nigeria and other economies in delivering nutritious, tasty, safe and affordable food products that would be beneficial to the physical and economic health of nations.
It will also strive to find lasting solutions to  global challenges related to obesity, under-nutrition, environment and climate through research and other relevant instruments.
Speaking further on the centre, Chief Executive Officer of Arla Foods, Peder Tuborgh explained that the latest was created to facilitate cutting-edge innovation in food processing by bringing all the key players into play: consumers, customers, small and medium-sized enterprises, universities and their students, suppliers, technical institutions and professional associations, amongst others.
“The centre was conceived as part of our vision to create the future of dairy to bring health and inspiration to the world, naturally.
“To be at the very forefront of the industry, it will require investments in research and innovation and for us, we aim to bring not only innovation, but also to bring the global dairy industry into a new era,†he said
Tuborgh observed that there was still knowledge gap in the industry as not too many had the understanding of combating global challenges such as lifestyle diseases and under-nourishment through Milk. Moreso, there is still more to learn about sustainable production and packaging of dairy.
“As much as we can, we aim to gain and promote this knowledge. Despite an increased production, we have been able to continuously reduce our impact on climate and our products can therefore form an important part of a sustainable diet, as defined by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations, (FAO),†he added.
The centre is expected to function through proactive partnerships with universities, private partners and research institutions and supported by public funding, with its research supporting the development of healthy, tasty, and safe dairy products
Its investigation will focus on major scientific and technical challenges faced by the dairy industry like health and nutrition, improving the nutritional profile of dairy products, increasing the shelf life of products to enable them to travel across geographies, securing the food safety to ensure top quality products despite long distances, high temperatures and various types of transportation.
