A Climate-Smart Dairy Programme Launches in Maharashtra
A new initiative in Maharashtra’s Vidarbha-Marathwada region is aimed at dairy entrepreneurs, milk producer organisations and smallholder farmers. The Climate Smart Dairy Entrepreneurship Programme was launched on September 28 by the Environmental Defense Fund, NDDB Dairy Services and the Marathvarhad Milk Producer Organization.
The programme combines entrepreneurship development with climate-smart dairy practices. Its stated areas of focus include milk productivity, farm profitability and the environmental effects associated with dairy farming. Participants will study opportunities to develop solutions relevant to smallholder dairy farmers and dairy value chains.
Training under the initiative will cover 130 entrepreneurs and more than 300 staff members of the Milk Producer Organisation. The programme is intended to help entrepreneurs and organisation staff identify and support approaches that address farm-level productivity, business performance and climate-related challenges.
The Maharashtra initiative is based on an existing Climate Smart Dairy Entrepreneurship Programme being implemented in Tamil Nadu by the Environmental Defense Fund and Kumaraguru Institutions. Experience from that programme is being used as a foundation for applying the approach in another major dairy-producing region.
The new programme is designed around the role of smallholder farmers in India’s dairy sector. Areas identified for possible solutions include farm management, milk production, resource efficiency and sustainability. The initiative also links local entrepreneurial activity with the practical needs of farmers and dairy organisations.
Speaking at the launch in Nagpur, Dr Abhinav Gaurav, Group Lead Advisor for Sustainable Livelihoods at the Environmental Defense Fund in India, described climate-smart dairy entrepreneurship as an opportunity to address climate challenges through innovative solutions for farmers. The programme’s training of both entrepreneurs and milk producer organisation staff is intended to support a wider network working on climate-smart dairy entrepreneurship in Vidarbha-Marathwada.
