2011 September/October Issue - Land O'Lakes Inc.

Formal Milk Market Quality Incentive Prices for FarmersQuality Milk, Quality LivelihoodsBacteriaplate count (TPC). But now, with thetraining we received from Land O'Lakesand the installation of a clean water tap atour MCC, our bacteria counts have fallento a point where they are often below500,000, due to substantial hygiene improvementswe have been able to make,”noted Nkurunziza.Since 2007, Land O’Lakes InternationalDevelopment has been working throughthe USAID Dairy Competitiveness (UDC)Project to substantially improve quality allacross the dairy value chain, from farmer toprocessor. Through UDC, Land O’Lakesinstalled fresh water points at 11 milk collectioncenters in Nyagatare and Gatsiboprovinces, provided in-depth training onhygiene, assisted with product testing,helped address shortfalls, and worked tostrengthen the entire cold chain.UDC has also played a formative rolein developing the institutional infrastructureto make processing more efficient,enhancing the financial incentivesfor producing milk meeting qualitystandards, and improving the industry’scompetitiveness in local and export markets.Part of this was enabled through theSolids Non-Fat% (SNF)Milk Grades TPC/ml 8.2% 8.3% 8.4% 8.5% 8.6% >8.7%Grade 1Grade 2less than500,000500,000 to1 million170 170 170 210 210 210170 170 170 200 200 200Grade 3 1-5 million 170 170 170 170 170 170Not Acceptable over 5 million 130 130 130 130 130 130Grade 1=Grade 2=Needs Improvement=Not Acceptable=Price in Rwandan Franc (RWF) per literEffective May 1, 2011Through the USAID Dairy Competitiveness Project, farmers receive financial incentives for producingmilk meeting quality standards.UDC-Land O'Lakes launch in June of theRwanda National Dairy Board (RNDB)and a new Dairy Quality AssuranceLaboratory (DQAL) located just outsidethe capital of Kigali.Comprised of milk producers, processorsand sellers – including the popularBut now, with the training wereceived from Land O'Lakesand the installation of aclean water tap at our MCC,our bacteria counts havefallen to a point where theyare often below 500,000,due to substantial hygieneimprovements we have beenable to make.”– Rwandan farmer Lambert Nkurunzizamilk kiosks – RNDB is working to fostermarket growth, monitor industry trends,facilitate coordination among stakeholdersand help the entire dairy industryreach its full potential. Meanwhile,DQAL is equipped with high qualityequipment for testing milk quality, andoffers a range of services that provideproducers, processors and others withthe quality assurance services they needat an affordable price.Along with these substantive qualityimprovements, UDC worked throughRNDB to facilitate a historic pay-forqualityplan with Inyange, Rwanda’s largestprocessor. All MCCs working throughUDC now have a guaranteed buyer oftheir raw milk – at a preferential price –provided it meets quality standards. Now,instead of traveling to Kigali to find buyers,and helplessly watching their milkspoil, Inyange partner Savannah Dairypicks up the MCCs’ milk every day, andtakes care of assembling it for transportto Inyange.“Before we had this kind of guaranteedmarket, farmers weren’t putting mucheffort into production, because we hadno way of knowing if our products wouldactually be sold,” Nkurunziza recalled.Through the UDC deal with Inyange,Nkurunziza is now earning about $13.50per day, compared to about $8.20 before.“This has made a real impact in my life,because it means my income is secure.Now, I can go to the bank and get a loan ifI want, and I can save up for high-qualitysemen to further improve my herd.”Nkurunziza and other members ofMatwoki expressed their gratitude toLand O’Lakes for supporting their cooperativewith a better understandingof hygiene and milk quality, and also forfacilitating the quality payment systemwith Inyange. But, he noted, more workneeds to be done to raise Rwandans’ understandingof what quality milk means.“People used to think that because milkwas white, that meant it was good. At ourMCC, we now understand that there arebacteria inside, but it will take time totruly raise awareness nationwide.” !www.landolakesinc.com SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2011 25