On 11 September 2026, Olam Agri announced that it had entered the ruminant nutrition market in Nigeria with the launch of its True Value cattle feed range, extending an Integrated Feed and Protein business that already produces more than 800,000 tonnes of poultry feed a year in the country. For anyone following the cattle feed market in Nigeria, the move matters less for the brand name than for what it confirms: the largest feed investment in the country is now pointing at ruminants, and that will change what cattle farmers can buy, at what price, and with what technical support behind the bag.
The numbers behind the decision
Olam Agri reports an investment of about 150 million dollars in the animal feed and poultry value chain in Nigeria, with poultry feed capacity above 800,000 tonnes a year and an aqua-feed plant at Ilorin rated at more than 150,000 tonnes annually. The company already sources over 90 per cent of the raw materials for its poultry feed locally and has access to wheat bran from its flour milling business, a core ingredient in ruminant rations. The target market is vast. FAO estimates put the Nigerian livestock population at roughly 55 million cattle, 139 million goats and 65 million sheep, yet productivity stays low because most animals are raised on grazing and crop residues with little balanced supplementation.
Government policy is pulling in the same direction
The launch was welcomed by the Federal Ministry of Livestock Development. Minister Mukhtar Idi Maiha has repeatedly stressed that access to affordable, balanced feed is fundamental to lifting livestock productivity, and that better nutrition improves feed conversion, speeds up weight gain and shortens finishing periods. The launch fits into the government's Livestock Economic Advancement Programme, which aims to move Nigerian livestock from subsistence grazing towards commercially organised value chains, and the ministry is also developing processing infrastructure, including new abattoirs. Sharad Gupta, Olam Agri's president for Integrated Feed and Protein, described cattle as the next frontier for investment, with a clear focus on Northern Nigeria, where most of the national herd is concentrated.
What it means for farmers and feed buyers
For cattle rearers, dairy producers and fattening operations, more competition in compound cattle feed usually means wider choice, better availability and more pressure on suppliers to prove quality instead of simply selling bags. Three things are worth watching closely. First, formulation transparency: ask for the guaranteed analysis and the raw materials actually used, because two feeds with the same crude protein on paper can perform very differently in the trough. Second, consistency from batch to batch, which depends far more on raw-material control and premix quality than on advertising. Third, technical support, because the value of a good ration only appears when it is matched to the animals, the season and the ingredients actually available to the farm.
Competition on finished feed also lifts demand upstream, for quality premixes, mineral supplements and additives that make local raw materials perform. Jinmao Biotech supplies cattle, sheep and poultry premixes and feed additives to farms and feed millers across West Africa, with formulations adapted to local ingredients. To compare notes on a cattle or sheep ration, send us a message on WhatsApp with your raw materials and your target weight gain.