Why Tanzanians ought to consume more milk

BY DANIEL SEMBERYA

Heifer International's Vice President and Chief Operating officer (COO) Steve Denne

As kids, most people heard phrases along the lines of "drink your milk so you'll grow big and strong!" While many people simply rolled their eyes and finished their milk so they could get to the good part (dessert!), the truth is that milk does provide valuable nutrients that kids need during their development.

 Consumption of milk and dairy products is associated with numerous health benefits. There are several benefits from drinking milk other than just ‘strong bones’.  These benefits come from milk products such as cheese, butter, cottage cheese, and flavored milk as well. Milk consumption is essential to maintaining good health and is a great source of calcium for all ages. Milk is the best source of calcium for our body. Calcium protects our bodies from bone loss, migraine headaches, and obesity in children and aids in losing unwanted fats.

It is essential to get the recommended amount of daily calcium intake in order to maintain strong bones and health benefits and prevent future health risks due to lack of calcium. However, despite all the above mentioned benefits of milk, findings show that Tanzania ranks third in East Africa in milk drinking, with per capita consumption of 45 litres per person annually against 130 litres and 80 litres for Kenya and Uganda respectively, due to low awareness on the nutritional importance of milk to the health of human beings.  

In a special interview with selected local and international media in Dar es Salaam last week Heifer International’s Vice President and Chief Operating officer (COO) Steve Denne, has earnestly pleaded for Tanzanians to consume more milk for health and wealth. “Milk has development benefit, source of animal proteins for pregnant women and children, you need to drink milk,” he insisted. Tanzania has 22.8 million head of cattle, but milk consumption is relatively low. The East African country produces about 28 million litres of milk a day, but only 10 percent of it is tapped into the formal and informal markets. According to Denne, one of the goals of the EADD II programme is to increase dairy production, raise milk consumption and improve net income for farmers. “We believe that as more Tanzanian families take milk, demand for it will increase and raise farmers’ incomes as well,” he said. Phase II of EADD was officially launched in March 2014 and will be implemented in Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda. The project is going to be a five year (2014-2018) dairy sector intervention designed to help 136,000 smallholder farm families to achieve improved livelihoods.  The programme is going to spend USD12 million in Tanzania as part of a larger grant of USD25.5 million received by Heifer International from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to expand the East Africa Dairy Development (EADD) project and 35000 Tanzanian farmers are going to benefit. The second phase of EADD will implement new technologies and practices in locations where the dairy industry is more mature.  In Tanzania, for example, Heifer and its partners will help establish new technologies such as breeding techniques, innovative approaches to fodder production, and alternative energy sources. Taking in account the high dairy production potential of the southern highlands milk shed and the proven hardworking farming households of Iringa, Mbeya and Njombe Regions, “we are confident that EADD will meaningfully increase smallholder household production, consumption and sale of milk response driven by a booming market,” said Denne. The growing of the Tanzanian private sector in terms of processing was another factor that prompted them to establish their work in southern highlands.The major aim in the southern highlands Tanzania is to reach about 45,000 households farmers, and enable them increase production, which eventually will turn their income and livelihoods. Heifer also will establish an industry that will make those farmers become bankable like their fellows in Kenya. According to him, “EADD in Tanzania will work with all actors and especially and recognising the critical role played by women and youth, put strategies in place targeting them to increase their participation in the dairy value chain.”Heifer is strengthening the relationship between farmers, processors, distributors and consumers behind each glass of milk in East Africa.  By improving the entire system that allows for profit on each level, close to a million people will have access to food, jobs, income, education, and financial and medical services, breaking the cycle of extreme poverty throughout the region. The East Africa Dairy Development (EADD) project is transforming entire regions by starting at the family level. For Phase II of the initiative, Heifer International is partnering with cooperatives in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania to link small dairy producers with the equipment, customers, marketing strategies and training they need to grow their businesses and strengthen their communities.  He said for years, many small farmers in the region haven't known if or when they could sell their milk, or for what price. They've also lacked the technology, training and market access to grow their businesses. The second phase of the EADD programme allows even more farm families to ensure their own health and growth. The change will be felt in future generations as children learn by the example of their parents as successful entrepreneurs. Now people are making their own decisions, growing their businesses and taking ownership of their communities.  Their objectives therefore are to increase dairy production in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda and improve market access for small farmers, mobilise communities and build social capital by including women and youth in targeted training, and facilitate a network of 21 profitable milk hubs that offer extension and business services to draw small farmers into the commercial sector. East Africa Dairy Development (EADD) project aims at assisting dairy farmers in East Africa to double their income through an innovative mix of training, technology, access to markets and supply side economics. To date, EADD has mobilised approximately US$ 3 million of investment to build new chilling plants, revitalise existing ones and create milk collection centres. The second phase of EADD will work with more than 200,000 farmers to improve dairy production and access to markets over the next four years. In East Africa, the traditional dairy market consisted primarily of smallholder farmers with low-producing cows. At best, farmers operated in disorganised groups, pooling their milk to sell in informal markets.  These communities were considered too poor for investment by financial services, and less than 10 per cent of farmers had bank accounts or input credit. This made it difficult at best for dairy farmers to make any more than just a subsistence living. EADD has provided extensive training on dairy husbandry, business practices and operation, and marketing of dairy products to the 179,000 farming families in the programme. Heifer and its partners also developed 27 milk collection hubs, strengthened 10 existing hubs, and formed 68 farmer business associations to manage the plants.  Vice President and Chief Operating officer (COO) Steve Denne, had visited Tanzania for the first time and he had an opportunity to meet with key media,  to discuss the organisation’s work in the country and discuss the newly launched EADD-East Africa Dairy Development project in the southern Highlands: Njombe, Iringa and Mbeya Regions. Heifer International is a global non-profit, humanitarian organisation dedicated to ending hunger and poverty while caring for the Earth.  The organisation  partners with the world’s poor by providing gifts of livestock and related training and technical assistance that enable them to become socioeconomically self reliant. Project partners become donors themselves by passing on the gift-the first offspring from livestock and training-to others in their communities, perpetuating a circle of hope and giving. A donation goes to work right away but grows forever.  It has been providing livestock and environmentally sound agricultural training to improve the lives of those who struggle daily for reliable sources of food and income. Heifer is currently working in more than 30 countries, including the United States of America, to help families and communities become more self reliant. Phase 1 of the project was implemented from (2008-2013), in selected districts of Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda. Phase 1 was also the pilot phase of the project, and during its implementation the project grew to be one of the leading market-oriented agro-livestock development initiatives in the eastern and southern Africa region with over 175,000 direct farming-family beneficiaries and an estimated US$ 10 million per year in incremental farmer payouts.