BRINGING THE CITY MARKET TO THE VILLAGE

BRINGING THE CITY MARKET TO THE VILLAGE

USAID helps small farmers increase income

Khalida, a cleaning lady at the local secondary school, has a small dairy operation. She lives in the Seyidlar community in the Samukh region, which is located 45 km from the city of Ganja. Ganja is the closest market where farmers can sell their milk and dairy products. However, this long distance to travel over unfavorable roads is expensive and causes the quality of the milk to deteriorate, especially in the summer months.  

Khalida had two cows which produced 10 - 12 liters of milk daily. After meeting her family’s needs, she would give the remainder to other farm animals or throw it away since the erratic electricity supply made it difficult to store any dairy products for long and since the closest market was too far away. According to Khalida’s calculations, she lost 4 - 5 manats ($5 - $6) daily since she could not sell her milk. 

With assistance from the USAID-funded Community Based Support to Producers of Dairy Products Program, Khalida’s situation has dramatically improved. Last May USAID, in partnership with British Petroleum and its partners, built a milk collection facility near the village to serve approximately 200 farmers. At first, she hesitated to deliver milk there.  However, she tried it and soon earned 30 manats ($38) in cash in the first ten days.

Khalida then participated in trainings on milk production which were held by UMID, USAID’s local partner. The participants learned how to properly feed and water the animals every day and how to keep the animals clean. She also learned to sell part of the dry clover her family grew on their small plot to buy mixed forages for the animals. As a result, her cows produced more and better quality milk which she was able to sell at the nearby collection point for a profit. Khalida used this new income to purchase three more cows and now has a small herd of five cows.

“Establishing the milk collection facility was like bringing the city market to our village,” she explained. “Now I do not have to travel to sell my milk, and I get paid every ten days. Because of this, all of my family now work on producing milk.”

Her husband, Ismail, helps Khalida feed the cows and clean the stable. Her daughter, Gulnar, helps her milk the cows, wash and clean the milk cans, and deliver the milk to the collection point. Once the other three cows give birth, they will be able to deliver 30-40 liters of milk every day. Khalida plans to use the extra money to buy more cows and improve the stable. 

USAID’s Community Based Support to Producers of Dairy Products Program aims to expand dairy production among small and medium sized farmers and promote regional collection center linkages to commercial processors for the sustainable development of private dairy farming and small farmers.