USAID holds dairy sector workshop

United States Agency for International Development (USAID) held a stakeholders workshop under its entrepreneurs project in order to review data and findings collated on dairy sector in Pakistan through an extensive value chain analysis exercise, conducted in southern Punjab and Sindh provinces. The workshop was organised in collaboration with local partners, Engro Foundation and Hashoo Foundation. The key findings materialising from the analysis exercise were validated by a diverse group, constituting of input suppliers, producers, processors, female livestock extension workers (FLEWs), milkmen, officials from extension departments and representatives of other donor agencies working in the sector. The group also revisited and started a discourse around the roles of various key actors, together with identifying challenges and opportunities in the dairy sector. The working sessions culminated in outlining effective measures and strategies to redress the issues and constraints and design innovative approaches to bolster the development process of dairy value chain. Entrepreneurs Dairy Value Chain Project in collaboration with Engro Foundation and Hashoo Foundation aims to support 21,000 dairy farmers (70 per cent of whom shall be women) in Sindh and Punjab with the goal of increasing their incomes by 50 per cent through active participation in value chain development.