Promote ecological intensification and inclusive value chains for sustainable African milk sourcing
Project consortium and fund
Consortium members:
- Eric Vall (Project coordinator), PhD, Animal scientist, researcher, SELMET, Cirad, University of Montpellier, eric.vall@cirad.fr
- John Mburu, PhD, Chairman, Department of Agricultural Economics, University of Nairobi, john.mburu@uonbi.ac.ke
- Souleymane Ouedraogo, Msc, Animal scientist, GRN-SP, INERA, osilamana@yahoo.fr
- Lucile Razafimpamoa, MSc, Animal scientist, Head of Livestock Department, FIFAMANOR, lucile.razaf@gmail.com
- Cheick Sall, Msc, Animal scientist, Coordinator of Animal Production Department, ISRA, yarasall@yahoo.fr
- Asaah Ndambi, Senior International Animal Production Specialist, Animal Science Group, Wageningen LivesTock Research, Wageningen University & Research, asaah.ndambi@wur.nl
- SNV Kenya, Netherlands Development Organization
Nine processors in four countries (Senegal, Burkina Faso, Kenya, Madagascar), covering a variety of agro-climatic and production contexts
Funding bodies:
- France – AFD (Agence Française de Développement)
- Kenya – MOEST (Ministry of Education Science and Technology)
- The Netherlands – MinEZ (Ministry of economic affairs / Agriculture and Nature Knowledge Department)
Thematic and geographic area of the project:
- Sustainable intensification of dairy farming systems and promotion of inclusive milk collection systems.
- Geographic area: Senegal, Burkina Faso (low altitude savannah), Kenya, Madagascar (high and medium altitude tropical area).
Project’s summary/abstract:
Today in Africa, demand for dairy products is rising. However, dairies have difficulties to source local milk in terms of volume, regularity and quality. Sustainability of dairy production, contribution of dairy to food security, and inclusion of producers in value chains (i.e. women and youth) are becoming major stakes.
Africa-Milk supports co-design and implementation of technical, organizational and institutional innovations to increase and secure local milk sourcing, considering the potential of ecological intensification of milk production and the development of inclusive milksheds to reach this objective.
The overall consortium includes African research organizations (ISRA, INERA, UoN, FIFAMANOR), WUR and CIRAD in Europe, all with strong experience on African milk production and sustainable development, and nine processors in four countries (Senegal, Burkina Faso, Kenya, Madagascar), covering a variety of agro-climatic and production contexts.
The project is organized in four tasks:
- Baseline studies, establishment of local dairy innovation platforms (DIPs)
- Co-design of efficient and inclusive milk collection systems
- Co-design of intensive and ecological dairy farming systems
- Monitoring, evaluation and learning
Expected results: researchers have delivered a support approach to co-design innovation; engaged stakeholders have established DIPs; DIPs have tested and, where possible, implemented organizational and institutional innovations in milksheds; engaged producers have tested and implemented technical innovations at farm level.
Project’s main objective(s):
- Co-design and implementation of efficient and inclusive milk collection systems through organizational innovations (optimized collection routes, functional collection centers, use of cooling systems), and institutional innovations (contractual arrangements between dairies and producers through milk delivery contracts, including seasonality-based and/or quality-based milk payments)
- Co-design and implementation of intensive and ecological dairy farming systems based on improvement of cow feeding systems using local resources, and simple practices to improve milk hygiene (technical innovations)
Theory of Change and Impact Pathway
Summary ToC with assumptions
Co-design of innovations runs with local dairy innovation platforms (DIPs) will boost results, outcomes, and impacts of the project:
- Goals of the DIP’s stakeholders taken into account with the results of the baseline studies to identify best-fitted potential innovations;
- Involvement of DIP’s stakeholders all along the co-design and implementation process for tuning, and adaptation of innovation to the needs;
- Involvement of DIP’s stakeholders in the training sessions to boost the scaling out of the results inside the national dairy sector networks;
- Establishment of a result exploitation plan to spread the highlights of the project trough Africa dairy policy research and development networks (findings, scientific papers, leaflets, policy briefs).
Expected outcomes and impact:
Expected outcomes outcomes: stakeholders have increased innovation capacity; stakeholders have implemented efficient and inclusive milk collection systems; and producers have implemented intensive and ecological dairy farming systems.
Expected impacts:
- better profitability for stakeholders, based on increase in the amount of milk produced, processed and marketed;
- job opportunities along the value chain and better consumer access to dairy products;
- more intensive and ecological farming systems thanks to reduced use of synthetic inputs.
Project results