Mareeg.com-Hargeisa, 25 November 2013
Today, the European Union, together with its implementing partners ICIPE and FAO,
are launching a new milk sector project in Hargeisa that will support Somaliland’s
food security and local industry.
Somaliland is currently importing the majority of its milk as powdered milk, in
order to meet this increasing demand. However, with an economy largely based on
livestock, the region has the potential to increase its local fresh milk production,
mainly from camels and cattle, and to produce 80% of its consumption needs. With an
investment of 4 million EUR, the EU intends to support the sector’s value chain by
focusing on institutional and sector capacity building, on animal health and on new
marketing methods, also for women milk vendors. It should also put an end to the
widespread milk losses caused by poor handling along the value chain.
“This project will support all the value chain actors in the milk sector and will
provide a boost for employment creation in Somaliland, said the EU Special Envoy to
Somalia, Michele Cervone d’Urso while launching the landmark project. We expect the
initiative to increase the income of more than 1.000 pastoralists and
agro-pastoralists communities and to provide hygienic milk for more 50.000
households.”
The EU milk initiative will be implemented by the International Centre for Insect
Ecology and Physiology (icipe) and the UN’s the Food and Agricultural Organization
(FAO), working in coordination with the Somaliland Ministry of Livestock and the
Quality Control Commission. END
Fore more information:
EU Mission to Somalia
Magali Uytterhaeghe
