More than 7 million households in Pakistan rely on their small herds of livestock for their livelihood. Due to lack of awareness and capital, these small herds are poorly managed and the produce is poorly
sold and thus the households earn barely enough to feed them – and they have nothing to send their kids to schools, receive medical services, build their homes and re-invest in sources of their livelihood.
Milk’Op will help these dairy farmers to increase their production and sell it directly to market. Milk’Op will provide necessary finances and trainings to the farmers to do it by themselves. First of all,
the farmers will be organized into groups to make this process economical, efficient and profitable. Each farmer group will be trained to take better care of their herd and adopt modern herd management practices to get higher production from their animals.
Then the group will be financed to set up a collection center, where all the member farmers will collect their produce in refrigerated tanks. This collected milk will be transported on refrigerated vehicles to processing plants or market. Such collection centers
and transportation will not only reduce up to 20% spoilage but will also cut the middlemen who keep up to 40% revenue from the sales proceeds. All of this will result, in short term, in 2 to 4 times increase in farmers earning. Milk’Op will take a portion
of farmers increased incomes in financial and management fee to makes its operations sustainable and expand to more farmer communities.
Farmers will be continuously educated on reinvesting in their herds by purchasing better feed, better veterinary services and more animals of better breeds. More disposable income at farmers’ hand will
enable them to afford education, medical care and better housing etc. – all resulting in upward spiral of prosperity.
Milk’Op is planning to launch its operations by end of this year.