Dairy Technology Development BH 39 and BH40
Phase I: July 2008 to July 2010
Budget: CHF 430’000 (Source Elysium/Helvetas)
Partner: Department of Livestock, Dairy processing entrepreneurs .
Contact: Fritz Maurer, Project Manager; maurer.fritz ( ) gmail.com
Location/Geographic Coverage: Batbalathang, Tang, Gogona (training component national coverage)
Helvetas has a long history in supporting livestock and dairy development with widely recognized achievements in setting up milk processing units. Yet, there is a need for modernizing activities initiated in the eighties and for scaling milk processing activities.
The overall
objective of the project is to enhance the income and reduce poverty
among remote rural communities engaged in cattle rearing.
The
project has three expected outcomes
:
· Establishment of a new MPU in Tang valley;
· Modernization/renovation of the MPE in Bathpalithang (Bumthang) and up gradation of MPU in Gogona;
· Capacity building a) Training of extension staff of DoL in milk processing and b) Training of private entrepreneurs in milk processing technology and management.
Main
Achievements:
The achievements in current phase of the project are:
· First batch of training completed;
· A new model was introduced in Gogona with an entrepreneur/dairy specialist purchasing the milk from the producers and making high quality cheese;
· The construction of the Tang MPU has made good progress and will be completed by early 2009.
Outlook
Except for milk producer groups and milk processing units selling fresh milk to urban centres Bhutan still has very few examples of functional milk processing facilities. To generate momentum it is very important to build up good sustainable examples which provide attractive returns to milk producers and serve as an incentive to increase milk production. The project is expected to make a major contribution towards achieving this.