The Federal Government of Nigeria has announced plans to increase milk production from the current 600,000 metric tonnes to 1,700,000 metric tonnes by 2024.

Nigeria’s Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, who gave the short-term target, said the government will provide the needed infrastructure to enhance milk aggregation and distribution and that the plan will reduce the $1.3 billion dairy importation bill.

Osinbajo also welcomed the strategic partnership of FrieslandCampina WAMCO, URUS, Barenbrug and Agrifirm tagged Value4Dairy Consortium in their commitment to increase self-sufficiency in Nigeria’s dairy sector.

The Vice President represented by the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Niyi Adebayo, at a webinar organised by FrieslandCampina WAMCO Nigeria Plc to launch its Value4dairy Consortium, said dairy is one of Nigeria’s priority products for domestic production as it is a source of demand for foreign exchange, adding that it also has the potential to create wealth for farmers.

The bill for an Act to ‘establish national livestock and management (protection, control and management etc) bureau’ scaled second reading on Tuesday. It is sponsored by Lawmaker Bima Enagi (APC, Niger South).

The legislation is aimed at solving the challenge of animal identification and management by establishing the National Livestock Bureau for the purpose of livestock identification, traceability, registration, cattle rustling control and livestock disease control.

Leading the debate, Enagi noted that although livestock identification was originally intended to indicate ownership and prevent rustling, it has been expanded to include information on animals’ origins (birthplace, parentage, sex, breed, genetics) as well as the ability to trace an animal product back through the marketing chain to its source.

He said the movement of livestock and their products has increased the spread of diseases, increased the threat to human health and reduced consumer confidence in animal products. The Bureau, when established, will ensure the traceability of animal products into the country, in order to safeguard the lives citizens.

Highlights of the Bill include

* Creation of a National Livestock Identification database.

* Ensure management, traceability, and control of movement of livestock.

* Ensure livestock health and disease management through disease surveillance, prevention and quick response to disease outbreaks.

Airlines face another bleak year with steeper losses than previously forecast, as some regions struggle to speed up Covid-19 vaccination campaigns and control virus variants, an industry group said Wednesday.

The industry is expected to register net post-tax losses of $47.7 billion (39.7 billion euros) in 2021, greater than the $38 billion forecast in December, according to the International Air Transport Association.

On a brighter note, IATA slightly raised its forecast for global air passenger traffic, saying it would reach 43 percent of pre-pandemic levels this year.

“Financial performance will be worse and more varied this year than we expected in our December forecast, because of difficulties in controlling the virus variants and slower vaccination in some regions,” the association said in a report.

IATA said it now expected “much more limited” flying during the key summer season, when people take to the air on holiday.

IATA said it now expected “much more limited” flying during the key summer season, when people take to the air on holiday.

Airlines lost more than $126 billion last year as the Covid-19 crisis prompted countries to lock down cities, close borders and ban international flights.

IATA expects more people to fly in 2021, with 2.4 billion passengers compared to 1.8 billion in 2020.

It still remains far from pre-pandemic air traffic: some 4.5 billion people travelled by plane in 2019.

Toxic air that chokes Indian cities while hurting hundreds of thousands of people also carries a grim economic burden for the country’s companies of around $95 billion a year, according to researchers who urged firms to lead the drive against pollution.  

Air pollution shortens lives worldwide by nearly three years on average, and causes millions of premature deaths annually.

India is one of the worst affected countries, with many regions, often cloaked in a smog of hazardous particles.

The Lancet’s Global Burden of Disease study estimated pollution caused some 1.7 million premature deaths in India in 2019 — nearly 18 percent of all deaths in the country.

Building on this, a new analysis by consultancy firm Dalberg Advisors found that pollution-related absenteeism, productivity loss, reduced consumer and tourist spending all add up to cost Indian businesses $95 billion a year, roughly three percent of the country’s gross domestic product.

“Clean air is a precondition for businesses to thrive,” said Dalberg Asia Director Gaurav Gupta.

“Industry leaders should take more ownership and become advocates in the movement for cleaner air.”

Lost working years from the hundreds of thousands of premature deaths were estimated to cost the Indian economy $44 billion in 2019, according to the report, which was commissioned by the Clean Air Fund, a philanthropic organisation.

Beyond that, Dalberg said the effects of pollution on Indian workers’ health means they take 1.4 billion sick days a year, which they said amounts to around $6 billion in lost revenue.