Polish aid

While big plantations run mostly by foreigners continue to function, smaller coffee fields, which used to be owned by individual growers, were mostly divided among their children and used for construction or to grow corn, a staple food for the Chagga tribe living on the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro.  As a result, many smallholders and their families fell into poverty. While growing corn and bananas became a way to feed the local community, the farmers gradually lost their source of cash income, which they used to derive from growing coffee. Farmers need cash to pay for their children’s school fees, simple services, or a visit to a doctor.

Across the globe, in simple agriculture, small farmers make money by selling milk on regular basis at a collection centre. Twelve years ago, farmers from the Mwika area on the eastern slopes of Kilimanjaro did just that and started collecting milk. At first, they would collect a little surplus of milk from individual farms and simply heat it over fire. Over time, thanks to the support of many good people, their business grew into a small dairy run at the local parish and later into a dairy cooperative.

In 2019, the Mwika dairy cooperative, the Kondiki dairy and the Uru former coffee cooperative (also a region in the southern Kilimanjaro) partnered with the Poland – East Africa Economic Foundation and launched a two-year project run in cooperation with Polish Aid.

The year 2019 saw intensive works on setting up two support centres for dairy farmers, which also offer veterinary services, run stores with farming supplies, produce and sell feed. The first support centre was set up in the village of Uru. It was located in a renovated building which used to be a coffee cooperative. The second centre was built from scratch in the village of Mwika.

In order to increase milk production, the purchase of over 30 heifers was funded, which then went to farmers in Uru. Farmers attended various workshops on how to feed their cows properly, the hygiene principles to be followed while milking cows and further milk handling while running milk collection centre. The Kondiki dairy received additional tanks for milk, enabling it to become independent over time from large nationwide dairies, and a refrigerator truck to transport dairy products.

The second project module, carried out in 2020 despite many obstacles caused by the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, brought further positive changes both to Uru and Mwika. The Uru centre started to collect milk daily thanks to milk cooling tanks which had been bought in Poland. It now also offers services and supplies for farmers. The Mwika centre was expanded. It now boasts a new building which will be used mainly as a training facility for farmers but also as a community centre.

The Kondiki dairy has been setting up further milk collection centres which are equipped with milk cooling tanks bought in Poland. It also has been expanding the production of its dairy products with extended shelf life such as fruit yoghurt. To help marketing and drive sales, a network of dairy stores is being organised in several towns in the region (Moshi, Arusha, Same, Mwanga, Himo, etc.) and product packaging is being redesigned.

As the technology used in the dairy operations is growing more complex, a mechanical workshop was set up to enable maintenance, periodic servicing and repairs of equipment used in milk processing. Furthermore, a filtration system which will be used to filter water for milk processing, as well as a simple industrial waste treatment system are due to be completed by the end of 2020.

 

 

Thanks to the development support of the Poland – East Africa Economic Foundation and the Polish Aid programme, about 900 farmers now sell their milk as part of the milk collection system in the Uru and Mwika area, while the centres, the collection points and processing facilities employ over 50 people. The farmer support centres in Mwika and Uru are becoming role models for other places in the Kilimanjaro region on how to expand the dairy industry. The Kondiki dairy from a small parish processing facility is growing into a medium-sized local dairy cooperative and a bona fide processing plant.

 

   

prepared by Poland –  East Africa Economic Foundation