Where does milk come from?

Well we all know the answer to that.  It comes from cows of course. But what if milk didnt come from cows?  What would be the point in raising cows then?

This might seem like a stupid question but it is precisely the one that Evariste Dnayirukiye in Ryarusera in Burundi is answering.

For the past ten years Evariste has been encouraging his neighbours to assess the true value of their herds.  The traditional breed in the region is the Ankole cow.  This noble beast sports giant horns, up to 6 feet long.  It has been raised in the region for over 2,000 years and has its origins in ancient Egypt.

But there is a problem with the Ankole the lack of milk.  Ankole herds graze and range extensively and must be followed all day long to prevent them eating crops or wandering into danger.  At night they are returned to the cowshed.  The calves take milk and so do their owners but each cow during lactation will yield only 2-3 litres of milk a day and this is only after they have been fed a lot, this is a quarter of the amount that a Friesian cow can produce, a scant reward for all the effort.  Ankole are not even much use for meat their weak diet from foraging means that they are typically very skinny.

You might question why it is even worth bothering to raise Ankole at all!

And it is precisely this question that Evariste is putting to the villagers of Ryarusera.

The answer, according to Evariste, is not simple.  Traditionally Ankole are kept because they are sacred and were believed to be owned by demi-gods. Many Burundians continue to measure wealth in cattle, and the Ankole are especially prized.

But I do not hold these cows sacred, says Evariste. I think they are parasites- they bring so little to the families that raise them, it is such a waste. 
Evariste wants to change the face of dairy farming in Ryarusera. He grew up in the village but was lucky enough to win a scholarship and study agriculture in Germany for 2 years. There he gained valuable experience working on a farm in Bavaria. On returning to his village he was struck by the poverty.

It was as if I was seeing Ryarusera for the first time, says Evariste. I could see that many of our traditional farming techniques are actually working against us. And chief amongst these is the Ankole. It is not a godly creature. It is useless!

Since returning, Evariste has introduced a new approach to dairy farming, encouraging his neighbours to ditch their Ankole and instead raise Friesians.
The dairy farming project is simple, but it is one that has so many benefits. When a family is willing to give up its Ankole (which they can sell) Evariste will give them a Friesian cow in its place. The family then feed and milks the cow. The evening milk is kept by the family to supplement their diet and the morning milk is sold to Evariste with part of the income contributing towards paying off the cost of the cow.

Presently 40 Burundi families take part in the scheme. Every day the milk is transported by local boys who cycle from the family home into town with the gallons of milk, where the milk is pasteurised. The boys are employed to transport the milk and are paid a wage to take it to town.

Evariste makes a small profit from selling the milk. He sells it to the local sellers for 850 francs per litre (45p) and they sell the milk for 1,000 francs per litre (53p).

Evariste  believes strongly that good farming methods in Burundi will help people out of poverty and  to farm self-sufficiently.  Evariste thinks that poverty in Burundi is down to a lack of training in modern farming practice, and not having the knowledge and the tools necessary to reap the benefits of a well-run farm. He points to the misuse of chemical pesticides on farmland as one example of unproductive and destructive farming.  He says that these issues combined with climate change and population growth have contributed greatly to poverty.

The system ensures that families are getting nutritious milk but are also able to earn an income. Evariste is subsidising the cost of purchasing cows to each family by taking the morning milk and selling it, eventually the cow will belong to the family. The sellers who trade milk in the town are also directly benefitting from the income and so to are people who buy the milk, previously a luxury commodity.

Evaristes project is so successful that he needs a bigger pasteurisation system. When the unpasteurised milk arrives in the town it is pasteurised over hot charcoal in giant pans. Evariste has to pasteurise up to 240 litres of milk a day and with the project expanding, he cannot keep up. More families want cows and there is only so much milk you can pasteurise using this method.

World Emergency Relief UK has provided Evariste with an automatic, multi-function, mini-batch dairy- (Model 1A200L), which can pasteurise 500 litres of milk at one time. This machine is customised to suit the needs of the user and is very efficient and easy to use. This means that all the pasteurising can be done at once with minimal loss of milk.

Evariste is paying for the machine by donating the amount of milk which was previously lost each day through boiling over and spillage. He will deliver 30 litres of milk a day to WER orphanages in Burundi. Over 200 children are benefitting from the donated milk.

Evaristes goal is simple; he wants the communities in Burundi to break free from the cycle of poverty. He envisages a future where farming families are self-sufficient and can farm correctly and productively by having the right knowledge and tools. In the process, he has successfully implemented a dairy farming system where people are getting milk, people are being employed, families have an income and orphans are benefitting from donated milk.