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THE DIALOGUE
2 Day Stakeholder Workshop, January 21st- January 22nd 2026. Abuja
Feeding the Future: Nordic Expertise Meets Nigeria's Livestock Needs is an agricultural development initiative designed to strengthen Nigeria's livestock value chain through strategic collaboration with Nordic agricultural experts and institutions. The program focuses on improving local capacity in dairy, poultry, cattle and animal feed production by introducing modern, climate-smart farming techniques, sustainable livestock management practices, and innovative agricultural technologies.
The initiative aimed to convene a round table of policy makers, Nigerian farmers, and agribusiness stakeholders in dairy through knowledge exchange, infrastructure support and access to improved production systems. By combining Nordic expertise in efficiency and sustainability with Nigeria's vast agricultural potential, the program sought to enhance dairy and protienbsecurity, create jobs, reduce dependence on imports, and build a resilient livestock sector capable of meeting the country's growing nutritional and economic needs.
ELPIS DAIRY INNOVATION CENTRE (EDIC)
Designed around the principle that “EDIC is a platform, not a farm,” the Centre integrates commercial dairy production with modern milk processing, animal genetics and veterinary systems, sustainable feed and forage production, renewable energy and resource-efficient infrastructure. Alongside its commercial operations, EDIC will provide a platform for technical training, research, technology demonstration, enterprise incubation and the transfer of international dairy expertise into locally adaptable production systems.
The first commercial phase is designed around a 300-head Holstein-Friesian and Girolando dairy herd, supported by modern production infrastructure and on-site processing capacity for value-added products including milk, yoghurt, cheese and butter. The wider model provides opportunities for smallholder integration, skills development, youth and women-led dairy enterprises, and the eventual replication of commercially viable dairy systems.
Through strategic collaboration between Nigerian institutions, the private sector, development partners and Nordic technical expertise, EDIC seeks to demonstrate a new model for dairy development in Nigeria—one in which commercial profitability enables institutional sustainability, while knowledge, technology and partnerships create wider and lasting impact.
EDIC is transforming dialogue into infrastructure, expertise into enterprise, and Nigeria’s dairy potential into sustainable commercial opportunity.
THE DELIVERABLE
Elpis Dairy Innovation Centre (EDIC)
Commercially Driven. Institutionally Sustainable. Nationally Transformative.
The Elpis Dairy Innovation Centre (EDIC) is a flagship initiative of Elpis Community Development Initiative, conceived as an integrated commercial dairy production, processing, innovation and knowledge-transfer platform designed to contribute to the transformation of Nigeria’s dairy value chain.
Importantly, EDIC emerged from the dialogue and insights generated at the “Feeding the Future: Nordic Expertise Meets Nigeria’s Livestock Needs” Workshop, convened by Elpis Community Development Initiative. The workshop brought attention to the opportunity to combine proven Nordic dairy expertise and technology with Nigeria’s livestock potential, local knowledge and growing demand for domestically produced dairy products. EDIC represents the transition of that dialogue from conversation to implementation.