As commercial poultry production in Nigeria experiences rapid growth, so does the need for vital veterinary and scientific support, said Olam.
That agribusiness group inaugurated a new US$150m poultry feed mill, hatchery and poultry farm in Kaduna State in Nigeria in September 2017, with Ceva supporting the agribusiness group’s hatchery vaccination program for day-old-chicks (DOC) in that hatchery.
Now the two players said they have formed a joint committee consisting of their experts and managers to explore four main potential areas of collaboration and technical cooperation, specifically:
- Upgrading of Olam’s veterinary diagnostic laboratory at Kaduna to become a reference lab for Sub-Saharan Africa;
- Development of new private labs in other regions of Nigeria to provide cost-effective and timely diagnostic support for poultry and other animal husbandry farms;
- Training of Olam’s managers and field employees by Ceva on proper vaccination techniques, on-farm diagnosis and lab analysis, with an option for the training to be extended to select customers of Olam’s feed and DOC at a later stage; and
- Setting up of research projects locally and internationally involving other scientific partners for deeper epidemiological evaluation of diseases and appropriate solutions for Nigeria’s poultry sector.