Canada funds Dairy Farmers Milk Collection Centre in Trincomalee
A new milk collection facility will be open on 23 rd July, 2008 in Trincomalee in order to support rural dairy farmers in the district. The Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) funded World Concern Sri Lanka to build the centre at Uppuveli, Trincomalee enabling dairy farmers along the Kuchchaveli coast to supply direct to the domestic market. MILCO, who own Highland milk products, will run the centre transporting milk daily to their upcountry processing plant. The centre can hold 3,000 litres in chilled milk at present and has the capacity to expand to 5,000 litres in future.
Representatives from the Department of Animal Production & Health, MILCO, the District/Divisional Secretariat and CIDA are expected to attend the opening which marks a turning point for Trincomalee’s dairy farming community. It has been over three years since farmers had a regular buyer for their milk. With powdered milk prices now at record highs, demand for fresh milk is increasing and both Nestle and MICLO are actively soliciting farmers in the district. Farmers can now make between Rs. 32 and Rs. 35 per litre, providing much needed income as they rebuild their lives after many years of economic hardship.
The Trincomalee facility is one of two MILCO run regional facilities built by World Concern Sri Lanka, an International NGO ‐ the other having recently opened at Vellavely in Batticaloa. CIDA and World Concern also built three smaller Community Chilling Centres with 500 and 1000 litre tanks through which farmers societies can keep their milk cold before transporting it to the regional centres.
Over the 15 month project World Concern Sri Lanka has supporting 580 farmers with technical training, the purchase of cows, micro credit facilities, insurance services and the provision of milk cans and cattle sheds ‐ all designed to improve the farmers productivity and to raise rural incomes. Ian McInnes – Country Director for World Concern Sri Lanka – says that “incomes for these farmers have more than doubled as a result of this project”. World Concern Sri Lanka is also working in Batticaloa and Ampara with a total of 1,500 famers across the Eastern Province. Mr. McInnes believes there is plenty of scope to assist thousands more farmers across the Province as they resettle through the Governments IDP resettlement project. He says “Many farmers are returning to find their cattle gone, their old collection facilities in disrepair and that they have no access to a regular milk run. Once the cattle are reclaimed or new cows are purchased, the problem of replacing the milk run is easily solved as long as the chilled collection facilities can be rebuilt”.
This project was possible thanks to a contribution from the Canadian International Development Agency.
Author: Ian McInnes, Country Director, World Concern Sri Lanka
