Expert Dutch farmers from the Netherlands have just completed comprehensive two-week training for Nigerian dairy farmers under the Farmer2Farmer programme organised by FrieslandCampina WAMCO, makers of Peak and Three Crowns milk.
Tagged “Farmer Safety Awareness”, the training programme according to Ore Famurewa, the company’s Corporate Affairs Director, supports the farmers’ approach to safety on their farms as owners as well as for their employees, families and visitors.
Famurewa explained in a media statement issued in Lagos, “It is essential to us to have robust safety and health structures in place in our offices, on the field, in our homes and with our suppliers. This particular programme identifies potential hazards around dairy farms while proffering solutions to eliminating or minimizing such hazards, and ensuring that the farms are safe.”
Developed by expert Dutch dairy farmers, the farm safety training provides practical, easy-to-comprehend techniques which enable local dairy farmers run a safe and improved smallholding; beneficial both to people and livestock.
In addition to the Safety training, the farmers received training and advice on various aspects of dairy farming, such as feeding and watering, calf-rearing, milking hygiene and practice, milking machine maintenance, hoof care and housing and barn design.
The Farmer2Farmer programme, is a best practise model designed by FrieslandCampina for its Dairy Development Programme (DDP) whereby certified dairy farmers from The Netherlands, specially selected for the programme and intensively trained to prepare them for their missions overseas, share knowledge with local dairy farmer through on-farmer practical training.
The main goal of the Farmer2Farmer programme is to help local dairy farmers under the DDP improve milk quality and productivity.
“We started the Farmer2Farmer programme in 2016 in Nigeria and we can say that combining our strengths is helping to bring about positive growth in the local dairy sector, especially where quality and productivity are concerned. The Farmer2Farmer programme is helping local farmers to make real progress, which is why we energetically embarked on the second round of the programme,” Famurewa noted.