Hazifa is the the founding chairperson of Manara Milk Producers’s Cooperative, the first of its kind led by women in Afghanistan. Photo credit: ©FAO

Milk producers’ cooperatives provide a platform for Afghan rural women to improve their livelihoods and develop their leadership abilities, thanks to FAO training.

Child marriage forced Hazifa to drop out of high school when she was 16 years old. At that time, she had no choice but to give up her dream of pursuing higher education studies.

After marriage, Hazifa was involved in various subsistence farming activities until 2014, when she took part in a training from FAO through the IFAD-funded Dairy Industry Development project, which aims to develop the dairy industry in Afghanistan. She couldn’t imagine that this training would be a massive turning point in her life.

When she enrolled in this training, Hazifa was 38 years old and had two local breed cows, which were mainly for household’s milk consumption. Getting a regular income from the sales of milk was unimaginable.

Through the Dairy Industry Development project, funded by IFAD, FAO has assisted since 2014 around 4 000 rural women with different trainings on livestock management, hygienic milking, and marketing of milk production.

Hazifa quickly learned that crossbreed cows produce higher milk than the local breed. The average milk produced by local breed is 4.08 litres per day, while the milk produced by crossbreed cow is 10.9 litres per day. Moreover, the crossbreed cows are also adaptive to the local environment.

“Motivated by the trainings provided by the project, I purchased a pregnant cross-breed cow,” tells Hazifa. “I applied the training skills to feed the cow with concentrated feed, silage and by-products of the different crops. The cow produced 6 litres of milk per day, and it allowed me to start selling the surplus milk to the market, as well as to a nearby milk collection centre, which was also established by the project funded by IFAD. Within a year, I bought a second cow and started selling around 13 litres of milk daily earning more than 380 AFN daily (USD 4),” recalls Hazifa about how she started earning from milk sales.

The first-ever milk producers cooperative led by women in Afghanistan

Encouraged by the benefits derived from the trainings, Hazifa started to influence and train other women in the community for keeping crossbreed cows rather than less productive local breed cows. She eventually managed to organize 80 women of her village, Manara, and took the lead to establish the Manara Milk Producers’ Cooperative.

Women make up almost half of the agriculture workforce in Afghanistan. The traditional division of agricultural works in rural Afghan households generally assigns and restricts the women’s responsibilities to feeding and milking cows, raising calves, and preparing and selling traditional dairy products. However, opportunities are widening for rural women thanks to this dairy project.

“I always wanted other women in my village to learn new things and do not limit their capacity to merely the traditional livestock management. Therefore, I was excited to be able to share my knowledge and experience with other women, who are now members of our cooperative. I encouraged them to buy crossbreed cows because they can provide a sustainable source of income,” said Hazifa proudly.

She was the founding chairperson of Manara Milk Producers’s Cooperative, which has been established with the support of the IFAD-funded project to develop the dairy industry.

“Hazifa is a perfect example of a successful woman in the agribusiness; she has become a role model for many women and girls of neighbouring villages,” says Dr Lutfullah Rlung, National Professional Officer at FAO. “The establishment of the first women-led milk producer cooperative itself is a breakthrough in Afghanistan, and this is attributed to Hazifa’s determination and courage,” he added.

This cooperative is the first of its kind in Afghanistan led and run by women. 75 percent of its 135 members are women. From the 34 litres of milk sold that first day, the cooperative sells nowadays around 400 liters of milk daily, and it has created a regular market to the farmers, even though only 30 members contribute to selling for now. Milk from other members is currently used for traditional products such as quroot, yogurt, chakka, and sold in nearby bazars.

Nevertheless, Manara Milk Producers’s Cooperative collectively earns around 263 000 AFN (USD 3 500) per month from the sale of milk. And the figures are expected to grow as the new dairy plant in the district, currently in construction, will be up and running. This new plant will allow full phased milk collection. Manara’s Cooperative estimates that they will collect 1 500-2 000 litres daily.

Self-help groups for home gardening and more

With Hazifa’s support, women of Manara cooperative have also created a Self-Help Group (SHG) for members who are still not selling milk. This SHG processes homegrown fruits and vegetables into marketable products such as pickles, jam, and jellies, which provide an additional opportunity for women to generate an income.

“SHG is as important as the cooperative because this group has provided us with the opportunity to increase our income through the sale of our own fruits and vegetable production,” says Nasima, a member of Manara SHG.

The Dairy Industry Development project also supported these women with distribution of solar dryers to preserve their agricultural products in order to consume or sell them, in particular during the lean season.

When COVID-19 emerged in Afghanistan, Hazifa also encouraged women in her community to sew facemasks to sell in the local markets. On the one hand, this effort would contribute to preventing the spread of COVID-19, and on the other hand, it would constitute an alternate source of income for women.