Government launches dairy project in Batticaloa District

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) signed an agreement with a major farmer society in Batticaloa District that will expand milk production in the East and raise the incomes of 1,200 participating farmers.

USAID, the development agency of the U.S. Government, is partnering with Manmunai West Livestock Breeders Cooperative Society to increase the quantity and improve the quality of milk production in 24 villages. Farmers will receive training and technical assistance to improve milk production. The project will also link farmers to the dairy industry and ensure that local farmers have a consistent buyer for their milk at fair prices.

In July 2009, USAID committed Rs 429 million ($3.75 million) to work with 4,000 farmers in Batticaloa, Trincomalee and eastern Polonnaruwa districts. The three-year program also includes investment by Land O’Lakes, an American agricultural company, and CIC Agri-Businesses, which together are expanding dairy production as well as developing dairy processing facilities in the region.

Rebecca Cohn, USAID Mission Director said, “USAID is supporting the dairy sector in the East because we see tremendous potential, both to individual farmers and to the national economy.

Sri Lanka imports about 80 percent of the milk consumed here, so there is a large domestic market for increased domestic milk production. Farmers who produce high quality milk need to be connected with the milk processors so they can sell more milk at higher prices, increasing their incomes and bring more economic activity to their communities.”

USAID is supporting a number of public/private partnerships in Sri Lanka. Another USAID partnership with the private sector produces cucumbers for gherkin pickles and seed for paddy in Ampara, Batticaloa, and Monaragala districts. Together, the two programs will work with a total of 8,000 farmers, bringing improved economic benefits to about 40,000 family members.

- Asian Tribune -