AFD, IFAD partner to strengthen Tanzania’s dairy value chain

TANZANIA – Agence Française de Développement (AFD) and International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) have signed a memorandum of understanding on a programme to support the entire dairy value chain, with a particular focus on small-scale producers and women in Tanzania.

The project aims to increase productivity in dairy farming, strengthen the sector’s value chain, promote the use of modern technologies, and enhance climate resilience among smallholder farmers in the country.

Tanzania’s Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture, Gerald Mweli, said the government continues to value the contribution of development partners in strengthening the agricultural sector, particularly through investments in climate-resilient systems aimed at uplifting smallholder farmers.

Mweli made the remarks during the signing ceremony of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and Agence Française de Développement (AFD) for the implementation of the Climate-Smart Smallholder Dairy Transformation Project (C-SDTP).

The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the Green Climate Fund (GCF) signed an agreement to co-finance the Dairy Interventions for Mitigation and Adaptation (DaIMA) programme in East Africa to bolster climate resilience and sustainable dairy agriculture.

The initiative, valued at US$358 million, includes a US$150 million contribution from GCF, and is set to directly benefit 2.5 million rural people across Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda.

The programme will help smallholder dairy farmers become more resilient to climate change through improved veterinary services, enhanced extension and breeding services, and better access to climate information.

“Receiving this substantial additional financing from the Green Climate Fund for the DaIMA programme is a significant step towards a sustainable, climate-resilient dairy sector in East Africa. With the collaboration of governments of Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda, and financial and technical partners, and with IFAD’s innovative financing solutions, we aim to improve the livelihoods of millions of dairy farmers,” said Sara Mbago-Bhunu, IFAD Regional Director for East and Southern Africa.

Additionally, over 15 million people will indirectly benefit from the programme throughout the dairy sector’s value chains.

The dairy sector in East Africa is highly vulnerable to climate change and is also characterized by high greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, especially methane.

The impacts of climate change include heat stress on dairy animals, prolonged and more recurrent droughts, intensifying heavy rainfall, flooding, and other extreme weather events that reduce dairy cow productivity.

Solutions that help farmers adapt to these impacts often leads to reducing GHG emissions or sequester carbon in pastures.

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