Women dairy farmers listening to a session on animal diseases and their treatment given by a vetinerary service provider
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Authors
Mehrab ul Goni
Issue Date
30/01/2015
Type
Language
en
Keywords
Agriculture , Economic Development
Alternative Title
Making Markets Work for Small-holder Dairy Farmers in Bangladesh IA25000055BAN
Abstract
This project focuses on small dairy producers and the market chain associated with milk. I was able to meet with a group of women dairy farmers as they attended a class on recognising a particular bovine illness give by their local paravet / private service provider. The women talked about how they had learnt how to recognise disease or illness in their animals and to treat it or call in the paravet for help, how they had planted better fodder grasses and improved their animal feed with supplements, and introduced new breeds of cattle or used artificial insemination to start to improve the quality of their livestock. They also talked of how, by grouping together, they had been able to come to a more effective relationship with the milk collector, who now visited their village daily, at a fixed time, to collect their milk and who paid them directly at the end of each week. This, they said, was an improvement on the old situation where, because their supply was erratic, the milkman didn’t come regularly and they had to rely on their husband’s selling any surplus milk they had in the bazaar (with the possibility that some of the income then never found its way back to their hands!). As a result of this, they reported that they estimated their income from milk sales had already gone up by 25% in the 18 months or so that the project had been running. The para vet also reported an increase in income of around 25%. He was not paid for giving the classes such as the one we attended, but this contact developed his ‘market’, ensuring that the women came to him for paid services including inoculation, attendance at calving, treatment of illnesses etc.
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