Integrated Dairy Scheme (IDS) for Livelihood Improvement and Women Empowerment in Rural Afghanistan

IDS has organized the rural households under three different types of cooperative networks to facilitate the flow of milk from rural to urban areas, and the flow of services and cash from urban to rural areas. The first type is village cooperatives, which support the farmers. They serve as local resource centers for animal feed, fodder, veterinary and breeding assistance, and milk collection management. Village cooperatives have intensively implemented artificial cow insemination geared towards breed improvement and aimed at increasing productivity. The second type is district cooperatives, which gather milk from the villages, cool it and send to the milk processing/marketing units. The third type is provincial cooperatives. This last type of cooperative processes the milk collected into dairy products and supplies urban markets. These cooperatives also manufacture concentrated animal feed and supply farmers through the lower-level cooperatives. IDS projects have extensively trained and supported cooperatives across all levels to strengthen their capacities to perform their roles. Women were given special priority in those trainings related to effective animal feeding, hygienic production practices, and hygienic milk handling. Women have been strongly encouraged to participate in the cooperative activities. Women have also been organized in ‘self-help groups’ and trained in household income diversification through processing (and marketing) any fruit and vegetable surplus into preserved products such as pickle, jam, candies, etc.