Markets theme scientists visit collaborators in Yunnan, China

The director of the Grassland and Animal Science Institute in Yunnan, China, Dr Huang Bi-Zhi, hosted a team of scientists from ILRI’s Market Opportunities theme during their visit to the institute on 17 January 2010.

Pictured (left to right) are Anette Baumer, Fred Unger, Huang Bi-Zhi, Lucy Lapar and Delia Grace. In the background are some Murray-Brahmin-Yunnan (MBY) cattle, a breed developed at the institute.

Symposium develops policy to transform traditional milk markets in East Africa & Northeast India

Participants at the South-South dairy symposium held at ILRI Nairobi, 1-4 December 2009

PHOTO/Tezira Lore (ILRI)

Between 1 and 4 December 2009, some 25 dairy-sector stakeholders from Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Northeast India met at ILRI Nairobi for a South-South symposium to share lessons on traditional dairy development.

The symposium -- Opportunities for transforming the informal sector in emerging dairy markets -- brought together representatives from dairy regulatory authorities, research organizations and development NGOs.

India is currently the world's largest dairy producer and in Kenya, dairy is the largest agricultural sub-sector by contribution to GDP. In both India and East Africa, 70-90% of all milk sold is handled by the informal, traditional dairy sector which is also an important source of employment and nutrition.

During the symposium, case study presentations were made and discussions held under five themes:

• The importance of the informal dairy sector and quality and safety challenges
• Training and certification to improve milk quality and business performance
• Innovation in products and developing dairy markets
• Informal sector governance, different models for dairy boards and enabling policy environments
• Barriers to transformation of the informal sector and investments for value addition

At the close of the meeting, the following key policy recommendations were put forward to guide dairy regulatory authorities and policymakers in the participating countries in their quest to transform and improve their traditional milk markets.

• Best evidence suggests the informal sector will continue to co-exist for the foreseeable future. There is need for enabling policy to help facilitate the ongoing transformation and modernization of the traditional sector and to build stronger synergies with the formal sector.
• There are concerns about public health and consumer safety and a real need to address these. Training and certification has proven a highly successful model for improving milk quality in East Africa, and this innovation shows promise for other southern countries.
• Moving to quality-based payments provides a strong incentive for improving the quality and safety of milk has been successfully trialed in India and should be encouraged in East Africa.
• As a long-term objective, harmonization of standards is required. In the short term, continued benchmarking between East Africa and South Asia can benefit both regions.
• Dairy sector governance is complex with multiple agents and overlapping mandates. There is a need to co-ordinate agencies; a 'one-stop shop' for all dairy stakeholders would be the ideal model.

The symposium was organized by ILRI and the Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in Eastern and Central Africa (ASARECA), through the support of various donors including the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the UK Department for International Development (DFID) and the European Union.

EDIT UPDATE: To view the presentations and find out more about the symposium's outcomes, please visit the website https://sites.google.com/a/cgxchange.org/southsouthdairysymposium2009/

ILRI research report: Improving smallholder farmers' marketed supply and market access for dairy products in Arsi Zone, Ethiopia

ILRI's Market Opportunities Theme has this month (December 2009) released a report of a comprehensive study of dairy supply and demand, and the role of collective action in enhancing market access by smallholder milk producers in Arsi Zone, Ethiopia.

The report was written by Asfaw Negassa, an agricultural economist formerly with ILRI's Market Opportunities theme and currently with the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

The study identified key supply- and demand-side strategic interventions that may improve the productivity and market orientation of smallholder dairy producers in Ethiopia's Arsi Zone. Strategic collective action interventions are also suggested.

Some of the proposed interventions are: improving availability and utilization of fodder; improving access to animal health services; providing smallholder dairy farmers with access to credit; enhancing horizontal integration of milk marketing co-operatives; and providing a variety of high-quality, safe dairy products to consumers at competitive prices.

Access the report

Citation
Negassa A. 2009. Improving smallholder farmers' marketed supply and market access for dairy products in Arsi Zone, Ethiopia. Research Report No. 21. ILRI (International Livestock Research Institute), Nairobi, Kenya. 107 pp.

ILRI research report: Constraints in the market chains for export of Sudanese sheep and sheep meat to the Middle East

Livestock exports are the second most important source of foreign exchange in Sudan after oil. The Middle East, especially Saudi Arabia, has been the traditional export destination for Sudan’s livestock and livestock products.

However, while these Middle Eastern markets have a specific preference for mutton from Sudan's natural grass-fed sheep, competition from new markets like Australia, Brazil and New Zealand coupled with constraints within the supply chains for sheep and sheep meat have set Sudan's market share on a downward trend.

Research by ILRI and partners from Sudan's Ministry of Animal Resources and Fisheries, and the University of Khartoum was carried out to characterize the nature of these market constraints.

The study findings are contained in a report titled Constraints in the market chains for export of Sudanese sheep and sheep meat to the Middle East.

Distant supply hinterlands, poor road networks, low market offtake rates, poor access to animal health facilities and deficient quality assurance systems were identified as the main market barriers.

The authors make several recommendations for improving the efficiency of the market chain and for future research. These include branding and promotion of Sudanese sheep and mutton; more rigorous application of animal/meat inspection and certification; and increased access to credit for livestock keepers.

Access the report

Citation
el Dirani OH, Jabbar MA and Babiker IB. 2009. Constraints in the market chains for export of sheep and sheep meat to the Middle East. Research Report No. 16. Department of Agricultural Economics, University of Khartoum, Khartoum, the Sudan and ILRI (International Livestock Research Institute), Nairobi, Kenya. 93 pp.

ILRI holds training seminar on livestock disease risk assessment in the Horn of Africa

Between 26 and 30 October 2009, some 30 participants attended a training seminar on livestock disease risk assessment in the Horn of Africa.The seminar was organized by the Market Opportunities Theme of the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and held at ILRI’s headquarters in Nairobi.

The participants were drawn from Ethiopia, Eritrea and South Sudan and included representatives from the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE), the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), the East African Community (EAC), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the United States Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (USDA-APHIS) Cairo and USDA-APHIS Dakar.

The seminar was co-organized by ILRI, the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service (USDA-FAS), the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)/East Africa and the African Union–Interafrican Bureau for Animal Resources (AU-IBAR).

John McDermott, ILRI's deputy director of research, and Jeffrey Mariner, leader of ILRI's research team on animal health and food safety for trade, facilitated the training.

South-South symposium planned for dairy researchers and decision-makers from India and East Africa

The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and the Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in Eastern and Central Africa (ASARECA) will hold a four-day symposium for key dairy researchers and decision-makers from East Africa and Northeast India.

The symposium -- Opportunities for transforming the informal sector in emerging dairy markets -- is provisionally planned for 1 to 4 December 2009 in Nairobi, Kenya.

In both India and East Africa, the informal dairy sector handles 80-90% of marketed milk. India currently holds the distinction of being home to the world’s largest dairy industry.

In both these regions, the informal dairy sector is a major source of employment and offers a low-cost, nutritive product to poor consumers who cannot afford to buy formally processed, pasteurized milk.

Innovative approaches towards upgrading the informal dairy sector continue to be explored, with a view to improving the quality and safety of milk sold.

Case studies on key issues facing the informal dairy sector – including governance, quality assurance and value addition – will be presented and specific strategies and recommendations developed.

For more information, please contact

Amos Omore of ILRI
Email: a.omore [at] cgiar.org
Tel: +254 20 422 3403

or download the symposium prospectus (159 KB, PDF)

ILRI research report: Efficiency of urban dairy markets in Ghana and Tanzania

ILRI Markets theme has this month (September 2009) published a research report that highlights the results of a study carried out in Ghana and Tanzania to determine which mechanisms for urban dairy markets work best in those countries.

The study was one of the first research projects to systematically address economic and public health issues in traditional milk markets in Africa. The results show that important opportunities for livelihoods continue to be created in such markets, which are dominated by small-scale market agents.

The authors recommend that policy efforts be harnessed towards bridging the gap between formal and informal dairy markets, and reducing milk-borne public health risks by training and licensing of informal milk market agents.

The report was written by ILRI Markets researchers Amos Omore, Steve Staal and Francis Wanyoike, together with partners from Ghana's Animal Research Institute and Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology; Sokoine University of Agriculture in Tanzania and the National Resources Institute, UK.

Access the report

Citation
Omore A, Staal SJ, Wanyoike F, Osafo ELK, Kurwijila L, Barton D, Mdoe N, Nurah G and Aning G. 2009. Market mechanisms and efficiency in urban dairy products markets in Ghana and Tanzania. ILRI Research Report 19. ILRI (International Livestock Research Institute), Nairobi, Kenya. 56pp.