September 30, 2007

Egyptian Dairy Producers Participate in U.S. Study Tour

In August and September 2007, 24 livestock producers from Upper Egypt traveled to the United States to study and learn from the American dairy industry. The trips were sponsored by ACDI/VOCA’s USAID-funded AERI Dairy and Livestock project, a 4 year, $8.3 million program that addresses constraints to growth in the livestock industry in Egypt, with a particular focus on increasing the competitiveness of rural livestock producers and small and medium-sized dairy processors.

Each group of 12 women spent 2 weeks in Minnesota visiting local dairy farms, veterinarians, feed mixers, and processing facilities to enhance their technical knowledge, upgrade skills, foster new ideas, and gain exposure to international standards of quality and marketing. The study tours kicked off with a cultural orientation, followed by educational sessions at the Minnesota Department of Agriculture and several family-owned dairy farms and processing facilities. Topics covered included regulatory procedures for dairy processing, farm hygiene, milk collection, testing milk samples, dairy marketing, feed milling and feed supply. The tours also included a culture-to-culture exchange component, with discussions and hands-on opportunities to learn about the U.S. health care, political, educational, hospice care and retail systems. Participants and their guide interacted with local community members at a hospital, high school, pottery studio, local stores, the State Capitol and at farmer cooperatives.

Upon returning to Egypt, each participant will conduct 2-3 village meetings to disseminate new technical information and best practices to their neighbors, also smallholder livestock producers. The women were excited to return and be sought out by men and women alike for their experience and exposure to dairy production and marketing in the United States.

These two observational study tours to the United States were part of a larger effort to expose AERI Dairy and Livestock beneficiaries to model systems around the world. In the spring and summer of 2007, a total of 10 tours were conducted for over 100 selected livestock farmers and livestock association board members. In visits to Morocco, Kenya, Turkey, India and the United States, participants observed fully-functional smallholder milk production schemes, as well as exemplary collection, processing, and milk and meat marketing systems.