Cochran Fellowship Program as a catalyst for Nigeria’s first national dairy policy

Dairy, USDA

As a fellow of the 2022 Cochran training hosted by USLGE in Madison, WI,  Oluwafisayomi Kayode had a transformative experience that provided him with valuable insights into the U.S. beef and dairy sector. He learned that without best practices in dairy management, strategic stakeholder engagement, and the enabling role of government policy, no real change could be accomplished in his home country of Nigeria.

Three years later, Kayode is proud to share how those lessons have translated into real-world impact through his leadership role as Senior Program Manager in the Advancing Local Dairy Development in Nigeria (ALDDN) program. ALDDN is a multiyear initiative funded by the Gates Foundation and implemented by Sahel Consulting in conjunction with private-sector companies as a catalytic intervention for building sustainable supply chains and fostering local sourcing.

Through his participation in USDA's Cochran Fellowship Program , Kayode was able to learn about U.S. dairy policy frameworks and confirmed that government policy is essential for sustainable dairy development. This knowledge, especially in areas related to quality standards and regulatory best practices, directly impacted his input in helping to develop and launch Nigeria’s first national dairy policy, which was officially unveiled on World Milk Day in 2024. With a strong policy framework in place, rapid growth and strengthening of the Nigerian dairy sector is now possible.