Nigeria’s Federal Government has welcomed Olam Agri’s entry into the cattle feed market, describing the company’s launch of its TruValue cattle feed range as a practical contribution to efforts to raise livestock productivity and build a more commercially organised livestock industry.
The Minister of Livestock Development, Idi Mukhtar Maiha, made the remarks at the launch of Olam Agri’s TrueValue Cattle Feed in Kaduna. The intervention expands Olam Agri’s feed business beyond its established poultry and aquaculture operations into ruminant nutrition, with products targeted at beef and dairy cattle.
The government’s support reflects a wider concern over the availability, quality and affordability of animal feed. Maiha said feed represents one of the major costs in livestock production and that adequate nutrition is essential for animals to realise their genetic potential for growth, milk production, fertility and overall health. He argued that year-round access to nutritionally balanced feed is fundamental to a more productive livestock sector.
Olam’s new TruValue range consists of three products: TruValue Beef Pellet, designed to support efficient weight gain and shorter fattening cycles; TruValue Beef Plus Pellet, aimed at accelerated growth and finishing performance; and TruValue Dairy Pellet, formulated to support milk production and herd productivity. According to Olam, the products are designed to provide consistent nutrition while addressing challenges around unreliable feed quality and supply.
The company's expansion comes as Nigeria seeks to move cattle production towards more commercially structured systems, including feedlots. The Livestock Development Ministry said quality concentrate feeds, when combined with good fodder, clean water and sound animal husbandry, can improve feed conversion, accelerate weight gain and shorten finishing periods. This can allow producers to bring healthier, better-finished animals to market more efficiently.
The opportunity is significant. A Federal Ministry of Livestock Development strategy document estimates Nigeria's cattle population at about 20.1 million head, alongside 44.5 million sheep and 78.1 million goats. The same document identifies inadequate feeding, poor genetics, weak husbandry and animal-health constraints among the challenges limiting livestock productivity.
Olam says Nigeria is the first market for its broader expansion into ruminant nutrition. The company plans to use its existing feed distribution network together with established players in the cattle sector to reach livestock farmers. Its President and Global Head of Integrated Feed & Protein, Sharad Gupta, said the company intends to produce at scale and keep the product competitively priced rather than pursue small volumes at high prices.
The company also has an established domestic raw-material base. Olam says more than 90% of the raw materials used in its existing poultry feed business are sourced locally, including maize, soy, rice bran, groundnut cake, minerals and limestone. Its wheat-milling operations also provide access to wheat bran, an important ingredient in ruminant feed.
For the government, the implications extend beyond cattle farms. It said a stronger feed industry could stimulate investment across feedlots, abattoirs, meat processing, packaging, transportation and marketing. He also called for stronger feed testing, ration formulation, certification, quality assurance and controls against contaminants, alongside increased production and conservation of quality fodder.
The move fits into the Federal Government’s broader livestock transformation strategy. The Ministry has said its National Livestock Growth Acceleration Strategy aims to increase the sector’s contribution to Nigeria’s economy from about $32 billion to at least US$74 billion by 2035, while addressing constraints around feed, water, animal health, finance, infrastructure, extension and logistics.
NBF Insight
Olam’s entry into cattle feed highlights a critical point in Nigeria’s livestock transformation: better genetics cannot deliver better meat or milk without better nutrition.
The bigger opportunity lies in building the entire productivity chain: quality feed and fodder, improved genetics, animal health, commercial feedlots, efficient slaughter and processing, cold-chain logistics and reliable markets.
If competitively priced commercial feed becomes more widely available, it could help shift parts of Nigeria’s cattle industry from a predominantly extensive production model towards more controlled and productive systems.
For NBF, the development also shows why the future of African livestock will depend not only on the number of animals produced, but on the quality of inputs and systems surrounding them.
