b"CENTERSarju Shrastha and Uma Tharu collect milk at Bihani Dairy Cooperative.RIGHTCooperative member Mina Kandel sells the group's ice cream by rickshaw. the value addition of going from raw milk to pasteurizedHeifer is working to change this dynamic, providing milk to yogurt, or even cheese, and the profit from theequipment, infrastructure and training to optimize local effort gets paid back to the farmer. agricultural value chains to keep income in the pockets Dairy producers in Kenya, for example, can sell of farmers. yogurt at a 51% profit margin, versus 5% for raw milk.This includes identifying areas where farmers are losing profit or where there is a missed opportunity for Transforming Potential into Profit income, then implementing projects that empower Building strong, equitable agricultural value chainsfarmers to take more ownership of those links in is important to overcoming poverty and feeding thethe chain. worlds growing population. And this work cannot beIn Guatemala, for instance, new dryer technology is accomplished without lifting up farmers.helping cardamom farmers earn more for their crop. Despite the labor they put into growing andIn East Africa, machinery for chilling, pasteurization producing food, the worlds smallholder farmersand making yogurt is supporting dairy farmers tohaving limited access to financing, markets orreceive a higher price for the milk they produce. And in equipment to expand operations or process theirNepal, the expansion of Bihani Dairy is creating new productsoften reap the least financial benefits. income opportunities for the cooperatives members. A lot of times, value chains are set up in a way thatAround the world we help farmers expand the takes advantage of the work farmers do, Mike said.stake they have in the value chains they supply. This They evolved over time so that the use of capital andtranslates to more income at the farm leveland more technology to improve the value of [goods] excludedresilient families, economies and communities on a the farmer.global scale.nSince it was just starting, we named the dairy Bihani. It's also a sign of a good thing beginning. TULSI THAPA, cooperative chairpersonHEIFER.ORG |9"