UN agency aims to boost local milk production

THE United Nations Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) says it will help poor farmers in northern Namibia to fight poverty through milk production.

Northern Namibia suffers from a high level of poverty and food insecurity. Agricultural productivity is low and unemployment is high.Appropriate farming methods as well as marketing infrastructure are needed.The FAO announced in a statement that the project aims to improve the income and livelihood of livestock farmers in northern regions.”This will be done by training farmers and others in improved milk production and in the collection, processing and marketing of milk and value-added milk products,” the FAO said.It said experience shows that small farmers can improve their earnings from dairy products by up to 50 per cent when they are directly involved in processing and marketing their own surplus milk.The 20-month project will have a budget of US$323 000.The main beneficiaries of the project will include women, who do most of the cattle milking in the region.The FAO said they will be provided with training in milk processing while marketing will help them increase and stabilise their incomes.Urban consumers, including schoolchildren, will benefit indirectly from safer and better quality products as more milk becomes available at affordable prices.At present Namibia imports large quantities of food products.But there is considerable potential for developing the dairy sector, and this will improve food security, strengthen livelihoods and raise the nutritional status, the FAO said.However, there is very little knowledge of proper milk handling among farmers, and with the milk still being processed in the traditional way, hygiene and safety measures are often not applied.There is also widespread consumer perception that locally produced dairy products are unhygienic and unsafe and so the public often chose imported milk products even though they were more expensive.The FAO said the project will demonstrate improved, low-cost, practical technologies for small-scale milk collection and on-farm processing and marketing of butter, buttermilk and fresh cheese.A public awareness campaign will be launched to raise confidence in the safety of locally produced and processed milk and in its high nutritional value.Agricultural productivity is low and unemployment is high.Appropriate farming methods as well as marketing infrastructure are needed.The FAO announced in a statement that the project aims to improve the income and livelihood of livestock farmers in northern regions.”This will be done by training farmers and others in improved milk production and in the collection, processing and marketing of milk and value-added milk products,” the FAO said.It said experience shows that small farmers can improve their earnings from dairy products by up to 50 per cent when they are directly involved in processing and marketing their own surplus milk.The 20-month project will have a budget of US$323 000.The main beneficiaries of the project will include women, who do most of the cattle milking in the region.The FAO said they will be provided with training in milk processing while marketing will help them increase and stabilise their incomes.Urban consumers, including schoolchildren, will benefit indirectly from safer and better quality products as more milk becomes available at affordable prices.At present Namibia imports large quantities of food products.But there is considerable potential for developing the dairy sector, and this will improve food security, strengthen livelihoods and raise the nutritional status, the FAO said.However, there is very little knowledge of proper milk handling among farmers, and with the milk still being processed in the traditional way, hygiene and safety measures are often not applied.There is also widespread consumer perception that locally produced dairy products are unhygienic and unsafe and so the public often chose imported milk products even though they were more expensive.The FAO said the project will demonstrate improved, low-cost, practical technologies for small-scale milk collection and on-farm processing and marketing of butter, buttermilk and fresh cheese.A public awareness campaign will be launched to raise confidence in the safety of locally produced and processed milk and in its high nutritional value.