Ethiopian smallholder dairy farmers to benefit from quality milk collection and transportation containers

In cooperation with the Global Good Fund, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations has handed more than 5000 Mazzi™ containers that provide clean and effective storage of milk, to the Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries. The Ministry will distribute the containers to farmers in eight regions of Ethiopia. 

Millions of smallholder dairy farmers in Ethiopia rely on milk for both subsistence and income. However, they have few low-cost options to safely collect, store and transport milk to collection centres or other buyers. 

Existing traditional collection cans like jerry cans, baskets and others are poor quality and unsanitary.  Furthermore, these cans are not designed specifically for milk capture, storage or transport, so valuable milk often spoils or spills before it can be sold. Traditional milk pails also more easily spill milk when kicked over during milking and gather contaminants that accelerate spoilage. 

During the handover ceremony, Mr Amadou Allahoury Diallo, FAO Representative in Ethiopia, said, “The donation strengthens our work to address the challenges with improving the dairy value chain and sanitary standards. We strongly believe that this donation will strengthen farmer linkage to formal and non-formal markets and improve the sanitation and quality of milk to improve the income and livelihood of the communities who rely on animal and animal products for a living.”

The Mazzi container is designed to reduce wastage and limit contaminants, resulting in larger and higher quality yields and increased profits for smallholder farmers and other low-income stakeholders across the dairy value chain.

Thanking the stakeholders involved in this donation, His Excellency Prof Fekadu Beyene, Minister of Livestock Development and Fisheries said, “This is a valuable support to the livestock sector to improve the dairy production and value chain for smallholder dairy farmers, and the first step to reach out to more smallholder dairy farmers in the future.”

“Global Good is honored to contribute to FAO’s efforts in Ethiopia. We hope that these MazziTM containers will help smallholder dairy farmers minimize milk loss and ultimately improve their incomes and standards of living,” said Maurizio Vecchione, Senior Vice President of Global Good and Research at Intellectual Ventures. “We look forward to future opportunities to collaborate with FAO on projects that benefit farmers in Ethiopia and across East Africa.”

The overall value of the containers amounts to over USD 62 000.