The importance of strategic policy making and its potentials in jumpstarting rapid growth in any sector of the economy continues to reverberate as Akinwumi Adesina, president, African Development Bank (AfDB), received the 2017 World Food Prize Laureate last week.
Adesina, as Nigeria’s minister of agriculture during the administration of former President Goodluck jonathan, led series of advocacies that included getting individuals and businesses to challenge the status quo and begin to see agriculture “as a business.”
L&Z Integrated Farms is one of the companies that have benefitted from the ongoing work to transform the sector. Founded in 2008 by Muhammadu Damakka Abubakar and his two wives – Lami and Zubaida – whom the company is named after, L&Z is one of the fastest growing indigenous players in Nigeria’s dairy industry.
Abubakar, CEO of L&Z, is known to have been vocal about the value he believes, Fund for Agricultural Finance in Nigeria (FAFIN), one of the former minister’s initiatives, has brought to his organisation. As Adesina was recognised at the 2017 World Food Prize Laureate, Abubakar expressed the belief that the establishment of FAFIN was just one example of Adesina’s ability to deploy innovative platforms in delivering transformational impact.
The FAFIN, which is one of the key private sector platforms conceived in Adesina’s drive to transform the agriculture sector, is an investment fund that supports commercially viable businesses in the food and agriculture sector.
In a 2015 article for the Economist, Abubakar had said of the challenges in the agric sector that, “Farming in Nigeria is tricky at the best of times. Only the brave or the downright crazy would think of dealing in a perishable product like milk.”
The company however appears to have thrived and is committed to making its mark on the Nigerian dairy industry. In 2015, Abubakar and his family decided to partner with Sahel Capital Agribusiness Managers, fund managers of FAFIN.
According to Abubakar, FAFIN’s involvement in L&Z has transformed the company from a family-owned, owner-managed business to a stronger fully-fledged corporate organization. With FAFIN’s financial investment came a strong business partner and strong operations team in the form of Sahel Capital.
Talking about some of the ways in which FAFIN’s involvement has impacted L&Z, Abubakar is quick to point to the fact that the company has been able to increase its herd size from 55 to 86 cows, effectively double its production capacity and also increase its product reach to up to eight additional cities across Northern and Southern Nigeria.
He is also excited about how FAFIN’s involvement has led to improved corporate governance, a stronger management team and has enabled the company improve and streamline its core operations.
