The federal government said it has concluded plans to provide a litre of milk daily to 30 million children in secondary and primary schools under the school feeding programme.

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh disclosed this in a meeting he held with a team from the West African Milk Company (WAMCO) in Abuja.

Ogbeh said the measure will tackle the problem of malnutrition among Nigerian children, which affect their growth and development.

He quoted UNESCO statistics that said 24 percent of Nigerian children under the age of five are under weight while 37 percent are under nourished.

To address the problem, he said government will next year embark on programme to develop massive grazing grounds for cattle to bring roaming herds and its attendant problem to an end.

Responding to the board chairman of WAMCO Mr. Moyo Ajekigbe said the team was in the ministry to follow up on the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between the ministry and company in January 2015.

Stakeholders said the program can Nigerian farmers can only benefit from the scheme if government gives the school children fresh milk.

Managing director of L and Z Dairy Farm in Kano, Alhaji Muhammadu Abubakar told Daily Trust that if government decides to use evaporated milk, yoghurts, powder or UHT milk, "it will rather create market for European dairy farmers who are having hard times in Europe." "But if it is only fresh milk, only Nigerian dairy farmers can benefit because you cannot import fresh milk into the country," he said.

A dairy farmer in Kwara State, Alhaji Banu Abdul, told Daily Trust that the move will encourage dairy farming in the country and reduce unemployment. He urged the government to make use of fresh milk to enable local farmers to benefit from the programme as it will be impossible to import fresh milk.