VetEffecT, together with the Friesian, implements a Dairy Development Program in Uganda

Commissioned by the IFC and Pearl Dairy, VetEffecT together with the Friesian, implements a Dairy Development Program in Uganda. The goal is to increase farmer productivity and achieve a sustainable increase in milk production of Pearl Dairy’s existing suppliers, by 200,000 liters per day. 

Dairy production in Uganda is dominated by small-scale farmers living in impoverished rural areas, and it is estimated that only 20% of the country’s milk output is processed. Small-scale farmers own over 90% of the cattle population in the country. A further 27% of milk is lost to spillage or spoilage during transport, a loss made worse in the rainy season when many farmers are forced to discard their milk due to a lack of cooling or transportation facilities. Strategic support for the sector will help it improve milk quality and help reduce variability in milk production by season.

Pearl Dairy

Pearl Dairy has set up the second largest milk processing plant in Uganda with a capacity of 240,000 liters of milk per day, producing mainly milk powder and butter oil. An IFC investment of $8 million in Pearl Dairy will support the operation of its milk processing plant. Establishment of new milk collection centers and cold-storage infrastructure will help facilitate milk collection from remote smallholder farms. In addition, Pearl Dairy will offer farmers fair, transparent and timely payment for their milk, as well as effective quality control.

Objectives of the DDP

The objective of the PEARL Dairy Development Program (DDP) in Uganda is to increase farmer productivity and milk quality and to target a sustainable increase of milk production and supply to Pearl Dairy from its existing suppliers by 200,000 liters a day. Pearl Dairy, an IFC client, is a leading dairy company in Uganda that, as part of its growth strategy, wants to strengthen its work with dairy farmers supplying the company to improve their productivity and increase the efficiency of their (farming) operations.

The DDP will be implemented over 2 years having the following objectives:

-        Select, recruit, and establish a Pearl Dairy extension force of 50 Dairy Development Executives (DDE) able to deliver high quality extension Good Agricultural Practices support to farmers;

-        Establish 10 Lead Farms and set up a Lead Farm Development Programme by regular farm visits with international dairy experts to demonstrate new practice and drive change for DDEs and commercial dairy farmers (CDFs);

-        Establish a network of 200 CDF and set up Farm Improvement Plans by regular farm visits with DDEs and international dairy experts to demonstrate good dairy farming practices and improve dairy production;

-        Set up a Lead Farm mapping herd administration;

-        Set up of a digitalised DDE Competence Development Tool;

-        Prepare a dairy manual with all of the best practices in CDF improvement to be used as reference by the DDEs and the client farmers tailored for Uganda;

-        Create a core supply base of up to 1,000 Commercial Dairy farms (CDF) –  dairy suppliers able to increase production by 200,000 l/day in two years;

-        Reach 5,000 smallholder farmers (CDFs) with advice on improving practices.