TheCable

Olam Hatcheries Limited, a subsidiary of Olam International Limited, an agri-business multinational, on Wednesday, announced the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Ceva Santé Animale S.A, an international veterinary health research company.

The signing ceremony took place during the France-Nigeria business forum in Lagos.

According to a press statement by Ade Adefeko, vice president, corporate and government relations, Olam Nigeria, the MoU would help boost poultry production in Nigeria.

“As part of the agreement, a joint committee made up of experts and managers from both companies will explore four potential areas of collaboration and technical cooperation,” Olam’s said in a statement.

“This includes an upgrade of of Olam’s Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory (“Lab”) at Kaduna, development of new private labs in other regions of the country, manpower training of Olam’s employees on proper vaccination techniques and establishing core research projects both locally and internationally to bring solutions to Nigeria’s poultry sector.”

Commenting on the partnership, Sharad Gupta, senior vice president of Olam Grains and head of animal feeds & protein said: “Our collaboration with Ceva is timely as Olam Grains scales our animal feed operations in Nigeria and beyond.

“As commercial poultry production in Nigeria experiences rapid growth, so does the need for vital veterinary and scientific support. Ceva brings its expertise in vaccination to our hatcheries, allowing purchasers of DOCs to be even more assured of safety and quality.”

Marc Prikazsky, chairman and chief executive officer, Ceva, said: “We are delighted to be partnering Olam in its journey to grow its animal feeds operations. This partnership is very much in line with our ‘Together, beyond animal health’ vision, one key element of which is to help ensure the supply of healthy food for a growing world population.

“It also continues our history of investment in Africa, where leading countries such as Nigeria will need to deploy the latest available agricultural technologies to maximise the production of food in-country.”

Ceva is currently providing support to the agri-business’ hatchery vaccination programme for day-old-chicks (“DOC”) at the Olam’s poultry feed mill and DOC facilities in Kaduna State, by supplying vaccine, vaccination equipment and technical assistance.