Smallholder empowered to transform dairy sector

Photo: Guardian Correspondent

Said Mtanda, Mwanza regional commissioner (center) having a happy moment with Prof. Zacharia Masanyiwa (right) chairperson of the Tanzania Dairy Board board of trustees during his visit at the ongoing dairy week exhibition held in Mwanza city.

By Francis Kajubi , The Guardian

A total of 69,062 dairy farmers across Tanzania have benefited from the Tanzania Inclusive Processor-Producer Partnership (TI3P) project dedicated to stimulating productivity in the dairy sector.

TI3P project addresses bottlenecks in the dairy value chain to increase incomes and reduce poverty among smallholder dairy farmers in line with the sixth phase government of extending reasonable support to the dairy sector.

The support extended to the 69,062 farmers includes extension services, access to inputs, markets, and finance for dairy value chain investments.

Throughout the project 26bn/- has been disbursed to processors, farmers, input suppliers, and other traders in the dairy value chain.

The loans facilitated the establishment of new processing plants, the expansion and modernization of existing plants, and the purchase of 1,748 improved heifers.

The project is funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the state-owned agricultural bank is being implemented in partnership with Heifer International, Land O’Lakes Venture 37, and Tanager.

So far 738mn/- has been issued as matching grants to 846 smallholder farmers, helping to reduce their financial burden in access to soft loans.

To enhance milk collection efficiency and improve milk quality, the TI3P project supports the installation of milk collection infrastructure and the mobilization and strengthening of Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs).

Since the project inception, 45 FPOs and 888 Dairy Interest Groups with 20,612 farmers have been formed and strengthened to conduct milk collection and now collectively gather over 15,000 liters of milk per day.

The project tackles cross-cutting issues such as gender and nutrition, which significantly impact the dairy sector.

Since the project inception, six processors have participated in Enterprise Acceleration Interventions, leading to a 17 percent increase in utilization of the installed capacity.

In his clarification about the project, the agricultural bank’s Manager for Lake Zone Alphonce Mokoki said the TI3P project focuses on enhancing milk supply, growth, and profitability for processors, which serve as key formal markets for milk produced by smallholder farmers.

 Mokoki revealed that the bank is in the final stages of establishing 15 milk collection centers in the regions of Kagera, Mara, Mwanza, and Shinyanga.

“The government in collaboration with the private sector needs to create an enabling environment by addressing policy and legal issues hindering the dairy sector’s development,” he said.

Mokoki called upon stakeholders to collaborate in addressing challenges in the dairy sub-sector and to leverage opportunities provided by the TI3P project.