Learning Event

Dairy & Development: Dilemmas of Scaling-Up

Agri-ProFocus and Heifer Nederland are pleased to announce that on the occasion of Heifer’s 10th anniversary the learning event ‘Dairy and Development’ will be organised. This event will take place on the 2nd of July 2009 and will bring together Heifer delegations (including farmers) from Ghana, Cameroon and Albania, and professionals from dairy industry, research and international development cooperation.

Date: 2 July 2009 - 9.30-17.00
Venue: d.o.b. foundation, Veessen (Route description)
Nearest NS station: Zwolle
Registration: already closed

Background
Development organisations such as Heifer Nederland have been most effective in supporting self-development of farmers in developing countries through integrated development projects. These include animal husbandry and initial strengthening of farmer organisations while combining endogenous and exogenous practices. Aspects such as gender, HIV/AIDS and environmental sustainability have also been included in the projects.

Production for the market is one of the options for further development in dairy. This implies a daily product flow, both quantitative and qualitative, from farm to factory. The challenge lies in connecting the scale needed for efficient processing with the scale of smallholder dairy farming. What works well for both? Is upscaling the only way forward for (all) farmers? What are dilemmas for dairy farmer organisations, for the private sector, government and NGOs in this context?

Cases
The programme allows for learning from various experiences and sharing yours too. The main elements are a general introduction on dairy and development, 4 sessions on present dilemmas, and a panel discussion on the future of dairy development. The earlier call for cases resulted in 4 presentations (cases descriptions available here

1. Dairy production, processing and marketing in Mumias, Kenya: Dutch company Schaap Dairies encountered a number of practical dilemmas during the implementation of their business model.

2. Smallholder dairy commercialization in Zambia: Zambian research organisation GART is working to improve smallholder dairy production: the technical dilemmas relate to quantity, quality and continuity of the milk flow.

3. Tanga Fresh dairy plant, Tanzania: DOB Foundation and Tanga Dairy Cooperative Union are co-owners of this growing dairy plant. The classic dilemma here is to balance social and economical sustainability with the interests of individual dairy farmers.

4. BAIF Dairy Extension Service, India: BAIF deploys an extension model for high potential dairy areas and relatively resource richer farmers. Dilemmas refer to smallholder inclusion and their linkages in the dairy chain.

Programme
09:30 Reception of participants and speakers
10:00 Opening and overview of the day
10:15 Introduction on Dairy & Development and Heifer’s work
10:45 Short focus on personal learning questions
11:00 Parallel sessions: Case presentations discussions around dilemmas
12:30 Lunch
13.30 Continuation on same Cases: Dilemmas and Solutions
14.30 Drawing conclusion: Looking Forward
14.50 Personal learning conclusions and personal plan of action
15:00 Presentation of Belgium Livestock Platform
15:20 Panel Discussion: Agriculture is back on the Agenda, and now Livestock?!
15:45 Closing
16:00 Drinks