For the purpose to complement the humanitarian efforts carried out by the United Nations in Nineveh Governorate, and within the framework of supporting income generation for returning families and local communities, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has opened new small/medium-scale village milk centers for collection, cooling, processing and marketing dairy products.  Such activities are part of the project Support to agricultural livelihoods of rural and peri-urban returnees and communities in Nineveh Governorate, Iraq, funded by the European Union and implemented in close cooperation with Ministry of Agriculture (Nineveh Directorate of Agriculture). FAO project team and cadres of Nineveh Directorate participated to this event and in the presence of a large number of producers, milk collectors and local authorities.

FAO Representative in Iraq, Dr. Salah El Hajj Hassan, inaugurated, under the patronage of His Excellency the Minister of Agriculture, 8 new small/medium-scale village milk centers for collection, cooling, processing and marketing dairy products in areas of: 1) Tal Afar district (Zummar Sub-District,  Al-Amaleh village), 2) Tal Kaif district (Al-Qusyat village) and 3) Mosul District (Hammam Al-Alil sub-district: Hammam Al-Alil Center, Tal Abyadh and Qabar Al-Abd villages). Dr Salah during the ceremony explained that the project is a good example of using a holistic approach to value chain development in the livestock sector and job creation within the small-scale private sector and real empowerment of rural women, by contributing to improved milk productivity, hygiene and overall food safety.