Equip farmers with simple, accessible technology that helps them store milk for several hours without spoiling, in order to improve the dairy supply chain, increase revenues for farmers and increase the safety of milk in the markets.
One of the biggest challenges face by medium and large dairy processors (i.e. plants that pasteurize milk) in east Africa is that the milk they receive from farmers (the majority of whom are small scale, low-input/low-output farms) is of poor microbiological quality. Farmers lack the infrastructure and equipment to adequately store the milk from harvest to the time the milk is taken to the milk collection center or the processing plant, resulting in a deterioration of the milk quality. This means processors often will not accept the milk, the farmer will lose its revenue, and the sub-optimal milk will be sold to poor households. Processors specializing in dairy value-added products also struggle greatly with this challenge, as you often need high quality milk to make cheese, yogurt, etc.
