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Dairy Industry Development in Kabul, Logar and Parwan Province
MAIL delegation visit to National Dairy Development Board, India
Mission Report
Background
FAO Afghanistan in partnership with the Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock is currently implementing the ‘Dairy Industry Development’ sub component of Community Livestock and Agriculture Project focusing on investment in milk collection, processing and marketing through formation of primary and secondary cooperatives. The project builds on the previous successful experiences of integrated dairy development schemes in Afghanistan and is implementing activities aimed at strengthening the National Capacity in dairy processing and marketing at field, district and provincial levels. In addition, the project aims to strengthen MAIL’s efforts to promote and regulate the dairy sector.
MAIL is the government body charged with dairy sector development. At provincial level this responsibility is handled by the Directorate of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock. There is also a plan to enhance the capacity of district level agriculture offices. The department of Co-operatives has also a role to play in the development of co-operatives. There is a strong need to further enhance the capacity of the government staff at district and provincial level in dairy industry development. In this context, the project aims to
1. Provide support to MAIL to establish of Afghan National Dairy development Board (NDBB),
2. Provide support for creation of dairy federation at the national level to support dairy unions, and
3. Development and approval by the Government of a national policy and the legal framework for the development of dairy sector.
A strong and independent institutional structure is essential for dairy development. In absence of ‘strong’ and ‘independent’ national institutions, it will be extremely difficult to capitalize on the market potential and the potential of generating synergies among the action of various stakeholders.
The National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) of India is globally recognized for its strong foundations and the key leadership role it has played in shaping the success of India’s dairy development efforts. In view of this, it is proposed to promote a collaborative, mentoring partnership between NDDB and MAIL to lay the foundation of a strong dairy institutional architecture in Afghanistan. There are also opportunities to procure dairy processing machinery and plants from the India NDDB owned Indian Dairy Machinery Company which produces all kinds of machinery for the dairy processing industry.
Credible institutional development requires high level national government leadership and commitment. To provide a sound start to the institutional development process, it is proposed to invite a high level government delegation led by the Director of Livestock Production, Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock. The delegation will hold strategic level discussions with NDDB on promoting and nurturing the establishment of the Afghan NDDB and the national policy and legal framework for development of the dairy sector in Afghanistan. The mission will be a precursor to a higher level mission to be led by the Minister MAIL at a later date.
Objectives of the Mission
The proposed mission’s objectives are as follows:
1. Initiate the process of establishing an Afghan National Dairy Development Board and National Federation of Dairy Unions working on the architecture. This process will need support from the Indian NDDB which has expressed willingness to collaborative, mentor and partner with the proposed Afghan NDDB.
2. Explore the possibility of assistance with capacity building of basic and middle level dairy technical staff through Indian government fellowships for short – term, masters and PhD programmes. This objective is anticipated to be further pursued during the Minister MAIL led mission.
3. Discuss opportunities for support with the development of Regulatory Framework and Legislation, food safety regulations and related laboratory capacity for the Afghan dairy sector.
4. Explore sources of various dairy industries inputs and supplies such as dairy equipment and materials, veterinary vaccines, medicines and quality frozen bull semen straws that could be procured for the Afghan dairy sector.
ACTIVITIES PERFORMED, LESSONS LEARNT AND FOLLOW - UP ACTIONS
On the 14th December 2015, the programme started with a courtesy call on the Chairman of the India NDDB by the MAIL Deputy Minister and the RO. The delegation then started the mission programme as presented in Annex 1,
1. Briefing on the History and Architecture of the India NDDB Plus a Walk - Through Presentation
The delegation received extensive presentations on the history and model of the cooperative dairy sector in India. It was also appraised of the World Bank / Government of India funded National Dairy Plan.
2. Vidya Dairy training Institute and Institute of Rural Management Anand
The delegation visited Vidya Dairy, an institute that offers various courses in dairy technology. There are opportunities to send various Afghan trainees to Vidya dairy. Similarly, some students can benefit through various undergraduate and post – graduate courses offered by the Institute of Rural Management, Anand in many areas of rural management.
3. Indian Dairy Manufacturing Company and Packaging Film Manufacturing Plant
The delegation had the opportunity to visit the Indian Dairy Manufacturing Company (IDMC) - a subsidiary of NDDB. It manufactures dairy packaging film and processing equipment and cattle feed plants which are sold to farmers and other interested parties locally and internationally. It competes well with established suppliers of dairy equipment such as Tetrapak and can be considered as a potential supplier of dairy plant to the Afghan dairy sector.
4. Visit to the Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation and Amul Dairy
4.1. The Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF) owns Amul, Asia’s largest dairy brand which is jointly owned by the 3.6 million cooperative farmers. GCMMF 12,500,000 litres of milk from Gujarat village level dairy milk cooperatives and 2,000,000 litres from other states on a daily basis. The federation markets milk and other dairy products locally and internationally. In 2014 / 2015, total sales revenue was $3,4 billion.
4.2. The delegation also toured the Amul Dairy plant. It processes 2,200,000 litres of milk per day. The plant has a very high level of automation.
5. Centre for Analysis and Learning in Livestock Feed
The centre is fully equipped with laboratory equipment for feed analysis and laboratory testing of milk and dairy products. It is staffed by highly qualified technical staff. The centre supports NDDB to maintain high standards of milk and dairy products quality.
6. Village Milk Cooperative
The delegation visited the Sandesar Milk Producers’ Cooperative Society (ISO – 9001 - 2008 accredited). The cooperative was established in 1952 and has a membership of 1,205 households. It collects an average of 3,200 litres of milk per day. Farmers are paid on the spot immediately after delivering milk. The cooperative society also contributes towards community development work such as water works etc.
7. Livestock Breeding Presentation and Discussion
The delegation received a video presentation on NDDB livestock breeding and artificial insemination (AI) programmes. The India NDDB runs one of the largest bull stations in the world in Gujarat state. Bull semen straws produced at the station are made available to dairy farmers through various AI programmes. Indigenous Indian breeds are used in the dairy crossbreeding programmes that also use exotic germplasm. There is an opportunity for Afghanistan to important frozen bull semen from India for use in ongoing breeding programmes.
8. Wrap – up Meeting With the NDDB Chairman
A wrap – up meeting was held on the 15th of December to deliberate on the next steps in the collaboration between the partners. A summary of key points from the discussions is presented below.
8.1. To the extent possible MAIL, NDDB and FAO must collaborate on dairy sector development in Afghanistan within the framework of the existing MOU between the Indian and Afghan governments. The process must be led by MAIL with facilitation from FAO.
8.2. The Indian Embassy in Afghanistan will be appraised on the outcome of the mission. MAIL will discuss with the Embassy the possibility of highlighting the unfolding collaboration with the India NDDB during the anticipated visit to Afghanistan by H.E the Prime Minister of India.
8.3. A Joint Technical Working Group (TWG) to work on the dairy sector issues will be established in the short term. Terms of reference will be drafted. The TWG will be comprised of experts from the India NDDB, counterparts from MAIL and representatives from FAO. RO or the project CTA will initiate the sharing of reports and documents of dairy work / consultancies etc that have been done in Afghanistan in the recent past.
8.4. The TWG will also review the Afghan Dairy Development Policy, draft Dairy Development Strategic plan, current livestock breeding programmes in Afghanistan and work on the Afghan Animal Breeding Policy.
8.5. There may be opportunities to inform the regional experiences based on this unfolding partnership. In that context, it may be useful to establish linkages with the Dairy Asia initiative so as to promote meeting of minds, sharing of information and excellence.
9. Discussions with the India Ministry of Agriculture Secretary Mr Ashok Angurana and Technical Staff
9.1. A meeting was held with Shri Ashok Kumar Angurana, Secretary, Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying & Fisheries, Ministry of Agriculture, and his colleagues in New Delhi on 16th December 2015. The Secretary extended a warm welcome to the Afghan delegation and also appreciated the recent all - women Afghan mission to Anand. He expressed India’s willingness to support capacity building and the development of the Afghan livestock sector in general.
9.2. The Secretary informed the meeting that several opportunities exist for collaboration covering trainings in various livestock and fisheries aspects. India has many institutions that are willing to enroll Afghan students. He indicated that the available slots for trainings have not been fully taken up by Afghanistan; it was only officials from Afghanistan that were benefiting from trainings and yet the facilities could be extended to non-officials (private students, farmers etc).
9.3. In pursuance of the MOU on cooperation between India and Afghanistan, it was agreed that MAIL will nominate members to a Technical Inter-ministerial Taskforce to work on the implementation modalities of the MOU with focus on the agriculture sector. This should be done as soon as possible so that the taskforce can meet in Kabul before March 2016 ahead of the anticipated visit to Afghanistan by H.E Prime Minister of India.
9.4. The meeting was appraised of the outcome of the recent mission by the Afghan delegation to Anand. It was agreed that collaboration between MAIL and the India NDDB on the dairy sector will feed into the broader collaboration between MAIL and the Indian Ministry of Agriculture under the overall umbrella of the MOU between the two countries.
9.5. H.E Deputy Minister Mr Abdul Jawad expressed his gratitude to the Indian government and NDDB for their hospitality and hosting the mission including the recent all - women mission. He also outlined MAIL’s willingness to collaborate with the Indian Ministry of Agriculture in order to benefit from India’s vast experience in the livestock and fisheries sector as well as with capacity development of Afghan technical experts.
9.6. H.E Deputy Minister was invited to visit Indian livestock institutes around New Delhi during his stay in New Delhi.
10. Investment in the Dairy and Access to Finance by Farmers
10.1. The delegation observed that the Integrated Dairy Schemes in India are founded on strong government support, research and development (including dairy product development) as well as good infrastructure to support all levels of the dairy value chain. The Indian government also provides strong technical services to the dairy sector, in addition to the support accorded to farmers through the NDDB. This aspect needs to be strengthened in Afghanistan and the establishment of the Afghan NDDB must be expedited.
10.2. In addition to local resources, the Indian government mobilizes international donors such as the World Bank to support with funding for dairy activities. It may be prudent for Afghanistan to develop a fully costed dairy development strategic plan and mobilize both donor and own resources for its implementation.
10.3. The India NDDB facilitates farmers’ access to inputs and concessionary loans. This is in addition to any other funding available through banks and other private sources. It also encourages the youths to engage in dairy farming; in Afghanistan such an initiative would help create employment among the youth.
11. Governance of Cooperatives
11.1. The delegation observed that the Integrated Dairy Schemes in India are founded on strong cooperatives governance. This is still an area of concern in Afghanistan. For instance some Afghan dairy unions do not hold regular elections to choose their leadership. This tends to affect their members’ sense of ownership of the business. Additionally, no bonus payments are made to farmers at the end of the year in cases when the dairy unions make a significant profit. The India NDDB is not much driven by the need to make profits but to grow the dairy business on behalf of farmers.
11.2. In India, management of the operations of dairy processing plants is a domain of professionals and technical staff. It was noted that cooperatives that had significant involvement on non-technical / professional staff in these areas tend to struggle and do not make any profits.
12. The Industry Development Scheme Model
12.1. The process of cooperatives dairy development takes time as evidenced through India’s experience. The first village dairy cooperative was established in India in 1945 with an initial 100 members. Currently there are 161,913 village dairy cooperatives with a membership of 15.5 million farmers, 199 district unions and 23 state federations. When Amul dairy opened in 1948 it started off collecting 200 litres of milk per day. In 2014 and 2015 total milk procured from 18,536 societies (3.6 million milk producers) in Gujarat state averaged 15.29 million litres / day. The highest milk procurement was recorded during February 2015 at 18.85 million litres per day. It would appear there is faster evolution of the milk collection and the dairy business of the Afghan dairy unions as they are able to quickly increase milk collection to more than 1,000 litres a day. It was interesting to observe the emphasis on milk quality and to witness ISO certification of the Sandesar Village Milk Collection centre and the on the spot payment to farmers for the milk delivered. Wide adoption of such timely payment in Afghanistan would encourage more farmers to join dairy cooperatives.