Small-scale farmers in Bangladesh will increase milk production and income
CARE today announced a grant of $5.2 million over four years from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for strengthening the dairy value chain in Bangladesh to increase the productivity of small-scale dairy farmers and link them to the formal dairy market.
Bill Gates, co-chair of the foundation, announced the project as part of a package of agricultural development grants at a press conference with Amos Namanga Ngongi, President of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), and World Bank President Robert B. Zoellick at the World Economic Forum at Davos, Switzerland.
CARE will use the grant to provide landless and smallholder farmers with the opportunity to enhance their participation in and profit from the dairy value chain in Bangladesh, where 80 percent of the population of 147 million people lives in rural areas and cattle are an inseparable part of the farming system. Milk production remains primarily in the hands of the rural poor – with households averaging two to three cows – who produce more than 90 percent of the milk in the country. Their manner of production, transportation and transaction remains informal and inadequate.
"This generous grant will allow us, initially, to improve the lives of 35,000 families who earn their living from dairy farming. But, ultimately, this project has the capacity to benefit 2 million households," said CARE President and CEO Dr. Helene Gayle. "Through working with private and public sector partners, we will create best-practice models that address the major obstacles for small-scale dairy farmers and demonstrate environmentally-friendly practices."
The project includes establishing 21 chilling plants and house-to-house milk collection systems around which farmers will organize; improving the transportation system linking chilling plants with processing facilities; and training and hiring para-veterinarians. Small, remote farms lack access to medicines and properly chilled vaccines. By increasing access to veterinary services, the project will reduce deaths and the incidence of disease in cattle. CARE has already begun to see some success from the use of para-vets in a pilot project that trained 165 villagers to provide animal health services on a fee-for-service basis to 320-400 households. Farmers saw significantly improved milk quality and production levels, as well as reduced spoilage; and 80 percent of the farmers used the para-vet services three or more times.
"If we are serious about ending extreme hunger and poverty around the world, we must be serious about transforming agriculture for small farmers – most of whom are women," said Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. "These investments – from improving the quality of seeds to developing healthier soil, to creating new markets – will pay off not only in children fed and lives saved. They can have a dramatic impact on poverty reduction as families generate additional income and improve their lives."
The grant to CARE, announced at the World Economic Forum as part of a package of grants totaling $306 million, nearly doubles the foundation's investments in agriculture since the launch of its Agricultural Development initiative in mid-2006. The initiative, part of the foundation's Global Development Program, is focused on a range of interventions across the entire agricultural value chain – from planting the highest quality seeds and improving farm management practices to bringing crops to market. The foundation believes that with strong partnerships and a redoubled commitment to agricultural development by donor and developing country governments, philanthropy and the private sector, hundreds of millions of small farmers will be able to boost their yields and incomes and lift themselves out of hunger and poverty.
"In the nearly 70 countries where we work, CARE emphasizes projects that not only enhance agricultural production, but also promote fair access to markets for small farmers. During our more than six decades of working with poor communities, we have found that more than anything, people want to be able to earn enough money to support themselves and their families. They want a real opportunity to provide for themselves, not dependency on hand-outs. Grants like todays from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will give the dairy farmers in Bangladesh that fair shot at economic security," Dr. Gayle said.
About the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Guided by the belief that every life has equal value, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation works to help all people lead healthy, productive lives. In developing countries, it focuses on improving people's health and giving them the chance to lift themselves out of hunger and extreme poverty. In the United States, it seeks to ensure that all people – especially those with the fewest resources – have access to the opportunities they need to succeed in school and life. Based in Seattle, the foundation is led by CEO Patty Stonesifer and co-chair William H. Gates Sr., under the direction of Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett. For information about the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, go to http://www.gatesfoundation.org.
