USAID – DRDF Dairy Project Portal Volume 4, Issue 2

The project focuses on training rural women in basic animal healthcare and extension services, as well as providing support to dairy farmers to adopt best dairy farming practices. One of the key components of the project is the Women Livestock Extension Workers (WLEW) program, which trains rural women in basic animal healthcare and extension services. Zahida Hashim, a 20-year-old woman from Basti Gareeb Abad in District Bahawalpur, is a success story of the WLEW program. She was selected for a one-month training course in May 2015, where she acquired basic skills and knowledge pertaining to vaccinations, de-worming, Mastitis control and treatment, livestock nutrition and management, and record keeping. After completing the training course, she was certified by the University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences (UVAS). Zahida's community acknowledges her contribution towards the welfare of the animals, which has resulted in increased milk yield and higher income for the dairy farmers. She invested the profit generated towards household expenditure and the renovation of her house. Furthermore, in the past twelve months, Zahida earned PKR 31,050/- by selling Vanda (concentrate feed) to the farmers. The Dairy Project has also upgraded 116 local farms of selected dairy farmers to model farms. The upgraded farms are facilitating local farmers in implementing best dairy farming practices, improving their farm economics through adoption of the 3:1:7 Strategy for increased milk yields and incomes. The project's Training Video Modules on Mastitis Control and Deworming & Vaccination are helping dairy farmers adopt and replicate the best farm practices, thereby improving their farm economics. The Dairy Project staff participated in two international conferences in Bangkok, Thailand: the International Women Leadership and Empowerment Conference (WLEC) and the Rural Development Conference. Dr. Shumaila Mubarak and Mr. Khalid Raza Shah represented the Dairy Project and shared two case-studies titled Dairy Project Interventions in Pakistan's Rural Development and Challenges for Rural Women Entrepreneurs, respectively. The case studies highlighted the role of the project and the intricacies involved in working in Pakistan's livestock & dairy sector, especially for rural women. The Dairy Project Management congratulates Ms. Shumaila Jamil, Communications Manager, who was awarded a two-week Fellowship in "Using Media for Development" from World's renowned media center, Radio Netherland Training Center (RNTC), Hilversum, the Netherlands. She solely represented Pakistan and received hands-on training on numerous topics such as social media platforms, mapping the target audience, choosing the right media channels, and impactful audio-visual content creation. The project has also produced two training video modules on best farm practices, which have been endorsed by academia, private sector corporations, dairy sector stakeholders, and the general public. The video modules have been uploaded on YouTube and Facebook, and are available for public viewing. The Dairy Project's training video modules on Mastitis and Deworming & Vaccination have been praised by experts in the field, who consider them to be an innovative initiative that will be extremely beneficial for the dairy farming community by providing hands-on knowledge and step-by-step tutorials on best farm practices. The Dairy Project has achieved nearly all its training targets over the past four and a half years, helping over 50,000 rural households by generating income, employment, and inducing greater investment in the dairy sector. The project has also completed some highly visible initiatives, such as the upgradation of 116 local farms, the production of two training video modules on best farm practices, and the agreement between USAID – DRDF Dairy Project and the Punjab Livestock and Dairy Development Department (L&DD) for the construction of a 375 cubic meter biogas plant.