Structuring the local milk value chain in Bobo-Dioulasso

A strategic value chain that needs to be strengthened

The local milk value chain is a strategic sector for socio-economic development, food security, and ecological transition in the region of Bobo-Dioulasso (the second largest city in Burkina Faso). Its market, estimated in 2018 at 16,500 tons per year in milk equivalent, offers significant potential for growth, in order to respond to local demand for good quality dairy products.

Today, between 70 and 80 % of local milk collected comes from specialised peri-urban farms and improved agropastoral farms, while 20 % to 30 % is produced by traditional agropastoral farms. The milk is collected within a 40 km radius around the city of Bobo, by milk processing units, collectors or producers.

But the value chain is as yet insufficiently structured to meet these needs and deal with competition from low-cost imported powdered milk, which does not generate much income for local actors.

Creating opportunities for sustainable income and employment

The project aims to respond better to demand and at the same time develop new markets for the local value chain, by increasing the volume of supply and collection of milk while improving remuneration for all actors in the value chain. In so doing, the project intends to create jobs and diversify incomes: in a context of multiple crises, the goal is to strengthen the resilience of vulnerable populations (women, young people, displaced people, etc.) by creating new economic opportunities.

Improving food and nutrition security

The project will also make it possible to improve families’ diets, by boosting the nutritive quality, quantity and diversity of dairy products placed on the market, and promoting their consumption by households.

It is being conducted in parallel with the “School canteens and milk” programme (LaitCol), implemented in close collaboration with the municipality of Bobo-Dioulasso. The latter is committed to supporting distribution of yoghurts in school canteens, protecting spaces for dairy production and supporting the promotion of local dairy products.

GRET is working in partnership with stakeholders often working in cooperatives, and is supporting consultation between these organisations within the regional milk inter-professional organisation, which is a partner in the project.

Project objectives

Improve incomes for actors in the local milk value chain in Bobo-Dioulasso through:

Better knowledge of markets, and boosting of milk processing units’ skills and business strategies;
Consolidation of the organisational and technical skills of economic actors in the value chain;
Consultation among stakeholders to develop the market (trade agreements, collective selling).

Key project figures

Direct beneficiaries:

400 family farms are members of 10 cooperatives;
16 collectors (men and women);
15 processing units are members of 2 cooperatives (around 150 employees, 60% of whom are women);
1 regional milk inter-professional organisation.

Expected results

80 % of producer and processor cooperatives are developing services for their members
Dairy livestock breeding systems have increased production and sale of milk by 20%
A milk collection and cooling centre and a collectors’ network ensure regular supply of milk processing units
The milk processing units of the 2 processing cooperatives are diversifying their production, improving the quality of dairy product sales (+ 20 %)
Consolidation of existing jobs, creation of new opportunities for young people and women, and a 20% increase in income for stakeholders in the value chain
Consultations among stakeholders in the value chain improve its functioning and improve market outlets for local dairy products