From 20 November to 2 December 2016, two employees of the Technical Office for Dairy Promotion (BTPL) carried out an accompanying mission to Rova, a Dairy Cooperative Union in the Vakinankaratra region of Madagascar. Two years after their first mission in 2014, Marc Wittersheim and Stéphane Sagorin were able to measure the efforts of the union, accompanied by Fert, in its project of re-founding and reinforcing the council to the breeders.
The opportunity to come back in images on their two-week mission.
The transformed daily life of Lina and her husband
“In 2014, on our last mission, we went to Lina, a young farmer full of energy and hope; her only cow, Cathie, was dry and her heifer, Cathie’s daughter, was pregnant. Did not deliver milk, and invited us to eat yogurts made from the soybeans she was cultivating!
In 2016, Cathie and her daughter are all 2 in lactation, in a new stable, comfortable and airy, designed thanks to the advice of the technicians of Rova. A silo was built to store the dregs bought at the big brewery of Antsirabe, a valuable food for the small herd. Lina welcomed all the breeders to her house to compare their methods and results. The meeting started with a cup of hot milk from the house offered to everyone! Lina’s husband was able to stop his job as a low-paid night watchman to devote himself to transporting their milk and one of the other 6 neighboring farms to their cooperative, 2 hours away by bike (60 liters on bumpy runways !); The rest of his time is dedicated to the cultivation of their plots. Thanks to the sale of milk, the couple was able to acquire some equipment for their farm and gradually improve their living conditions.
An emblematic example of the accompanying result achieved by Rova and her partners! “
