Photo: Collected
Danida Green Business Partnership (DGBP) under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark has funded a dairy project titled 'Green Dairy Partnership in Bangladesh—Creating a Sustainable and Productive Dairy Value Chain in Southwest Bangladesh' to the tune of Tk 25.4 crore (DKK 25.5 million). The project was inaugurated on June 27 in Dhaka.
The event was attended by the Secretary of the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock Syed Mahmud Belal Haider, the Director General of the Department of Livestock Mohammad Rayazul Haque and the Head of Trade and Danida Business Ali Mushtaq Butt of the Danish Embassy in Bangladesh and representatives of the project's subsidiary institutions.
The project is managed by Solidarity Network Asia and has Pran Dairy as its main commercial partner in collaboration with Arla Foods Bangladesh, IDRN-Bangladesh Agricultural University, Seges Innovation and Denmark Agriculture and Food Council.
The project will provide commercial support to Pran Dairy by achieving targets by localizing the 'Big Five' sustainable dairy farming systems introduced by Arla Foods and Seges Innovations. The Big Five—the key five parts of the system—effective feed for cattle, feed compatibility, animal health, manure management, and efficient land use. Through this system, it is expected to be possible to reduce 25 percent of greenhouse gas emissions and the remaining 5 percent through fuel, food waste and packaging management. IDRN and Seges Innovation will manage the overall performance and results of the project.
Pran-RFL Group Chairman and CEO Ahsan Khan Chowdhury said, "Pran Dairy is working closely with farmers to create a sustainable and efficient dairy system in different regions of Bangladesh. As part of this sustainable project, we are imparting necessary training to farmers on effective feed for cattle, feed compatibility, animal welfare, manure management and efficient use of land.
Irene Quist Mortensen, Head of International Sustainability at Arla Foods, said, “We are proud to be a part of this project as a promoter. We believe, as a result of this, we will be able to support the goals of the Bangladesh government in the self-sufficiency of the dairy industry, self-sufficiency of individuals, employment, equality and reduction of carbon emissions.
Salim Reza Hasan, country manager of Solidarity Network Asia, said, 'Safe and sustainable food will be an essential part of Bangladesh's development journey. Under this, the project is bringing a commercially viable way for farmers and the private sector to produce and supply quality milk, which will be carbon neutral.'
It is to be noted that by introducing an environment-friendly, sustainable and commercially viable system, the project has adopted a target of a 30 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and a 30 percent increase in the income of 10,000 household farmers. The project also plans to increase the number of household farmers to 50,000. Apart from this, it is hoped that 80 percent of the farmers of this project will be women farmers for five years. The project will subsequently facilitate the collection and processing of milk in southwest Bangladesh, as well as introduce more sustainably produced dairy products to the market.
Source: Online/GFMM
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