The quality of milk production at Dwaniro Diary and Livestock Farmers Cooperative Society has significantly improved due to access to safe and clean water, thanks to Heifer International’s collaboration through the Water for Dairy business project implemented with funding from Aqua for All.
Charles Ibona, General Manager, Dwaniro Diary, and livestock farmers’ Co-operative society noted that before Heifer’s intervention, most farmers were using contaminated water from ponds to clean up milk receiving facilities.
He noted that this led them into making loses in milk rejects by off-takers.
‘’We would lose upto 15 million shillings per week deemed as poor quality milk partly blamed on dirty water,’’ Mr Ibona said and added that Jesa Dairies, the main off-taker for the Cooperative would reject three trucks of 10,000 litters which costs about 5 million shillings.
Kawooya Steven, production and marketing manager for the co-operative, emphasized that the rejection rate has declined to about 1%, thanks to access to clean water. The rejections are currently and blamed on other aspects like the presence of antibiotics and low butter fat content.
He explained that the use of dirty water contributed a lot to poor quality milk. “Currently, we are using clean water from a reliable source for cleaning receivers and the Cooperative premises. As a result, the rejection rate has reduced,’’ Mr Kawooya noted.
Dwaniro Diary and livestock farmers’Co-operative society is located in Kiboga District is comprised of over 800 diary farmers. In a week they use about 10,000 litters of water.
The availability of water has not only improved quality, but has reduced the cost of operation.
Gone are the days when the Cooperative paid 100,000 for a truck of dirty water, today, they access a jerrycan of water at 100shillings only, right at the cooperative.
The Cooperative society Veterinary Dr. Marvin Kabisemere emphasized the importance of animals taking cleaning water, noting that this helps to reduce the risk of contracting disease they would get by taking dirty water
Engineer Kennedy Okuu, the Project Manager at Heifer said that the project objective is to improve the quality of milk and increase production and productivity of the dairy sector.”
Our intervention originated from the studies that the off takers undertook that indicated that the quality of milk is low.
‘’It is not the required premium that is needed, it is premium B, but what is required is premium A, which is of the best quality. And the study showed that much of the effect is basically resulting from the poor quality water – mainly surface water that is highly contaminated.”
The Project thus put in place water systems(overhead tanks), powered and pumped by a solar energy system to distribute this water to Muyenje and Dwaniro villages within Kiboga district.
The user needs a prepaid token which is placed on the water point machine and water flows instantly .
The Project;
Heifer International (HPI) with funding support from Aqua for All, is implementing the Water for Dairy Business (W4DB) Project at Dwaniro Dairy Cooperative in Kiboga District in Uganda since 2022.
The project is using a market driven approach to stimulate and commercialize access to safe and clean water.
This project has ensured access to safe and clean water for 2000 people through Dwaniro Dairy Cooperative. The project’s business model demonstrates how the availability of safe and clean water will increase volumes and quality of milk bulked by the cooperatives and result in increased business turnover. At the same time, the project has provided clean and safe water for domestic use for the residents in Dwaniro in Kiboga District.
For maintenance of equipment, The water technicians have been recruited and trained, the Water Management Committee is fully operational, and the community members are using the water services under a set tariff of shs.100/=per jerrycan with a high ability and willingness to pay.
This is part of Heifer’s bigger vision of supporting small holder farmers to attain a liveable income from agricultural activities by 2030.
