Livelihoods RFQ Home Based Dairy Manual and Trainings

Based in rural North Akkar, Concern livelihoods program is focused on promoting socio-economic integration of refugee in to host communities by promoting social integration and employment to which existing social hostility remains a biggest barrier. Based on experience and socio-demographic facts reported by various UN agencies and discussed here too, the project at hand proposes to employ Syrian refugee women in dairy cooperatives by introducing skill trainings for women, improving employment capacity of Lebanese dairy cooperatives and creating employment for skilled women in targeted dairy cooperative after paid apprenticeship. Project focuses on women employment since one refugee in every 5 is a woman and as of UNHCR report published at the end of 2016, which states that 71% households of 251,299 Syrian refugees living in Akkar and Northern Governorates, are living below the poverty line. Proposed project intends to support dairy products value chain in Akkar because the dairy sector in Akkar provide 60% of the area economy income and 2000 families in Akkar benefit from the dairy sector as their principal and only income. The number of dairy cattle as of the data obtained from Ministry of Agriculture office in Akkar is 15000, which is 30% of total national dairy farmers. Besides cows, 10% of the national breeders of sheep and goats are spread in Akkar. About 70% of small-scale farmers in this area are poor and very poor according to studies prepared by experts in the FARES Foundation. In 2015, according to the Lebanese official statistics the rate of the export of dairy products was 11.5% of the total exported food products, which equals to 63 million dollar. Conventionally, local dairy cooperatives operate as a link between dairy farmers and big dairy companies like CANDIA, TAENAYEL operating in the region.

Despite tremendous income opportunities presented by high national demand of milk and dairy products, income from dairy fails to meet basic needs of people. Key reasons behind limited economic benefits despite present market needs are: an overall lack of diversification of dairy products being produced by cooperatives, poor quality control (e.g, lack of awareness on shelf-life leading to spoilt produce), poor hygiene practices, lack of awareness on minimum quality standards among producer and consumer (e.g. limited knowledge of milk grading system), and dairy cooperatives lacking assets as basic as chillers and refrigerated trucks.