ILO’s AIMS assessment in the Somali region indicated high dependency of local population on pastoralist activities. Despite having a large number of people involved in milk production, the quality of milk and income being generated from it were inadequate.

PROSPECTS partnered with Vétérinaires Sans Frontières Suisse (VSF Suisse) to strengthen the dairy value chain in the region. The dairy value chain was hampered by a multi-faceted set of challenges that caused low and unstable income for women-led households engaged in the milk business. The sector faces three key challenges with many other underlying root causes:

• Low livestock productivity caused by inadequate livestock feed availability both in quality and quantity, coupled with a severe shortage of water especially during dry season and drought periods.
• Poor milk quality caused by poor milk handling, storage, transportation, lack of appropriate utensils and cooling facilities and inadequate knowledge on milk hygiene and quality.
• Limited access to the dairy market caused by low and poor-quality marketable output; high transaction costs (transportation); inefficient market system, lack of dairy processing plant, limited skills on entrepreneurship, financial and cooperative management, poor access to finance and market information and poor enabling environment.

To deal with these challenges, a comprehensive project was designed to enhance the capacity of dairy value chain actors to produce, handle and market quality dairy products. It included well designed and articulated sets of capacity building support; formation and strengthening of cooperatives, improving their technical know-how on quality; safe and efficient milk production system, preservation, processing and marketing; and improved access to basic animal health services. By introducing innovative practices such as multipurpose forage trees, hydroponic green fodder production, and commercial animal feed production, the program has empowered communities and enhancing their livelihoods