Linking school milk with smallholder dairy development strategy: Thai experience and design considerations for a pilot project in Bangladesh

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1 Linking school milk with smallholder dairy development strategy: Thai experience and design considerations for a pilot project in Bangladesh Mohammad A Jabbar and Vinod Ahuja

2 Background and objectives Bangladesh component of Two CFC funded projects to be implemented in partnership with GMPF : Smallholder dairy development through productivity improvement and better market access Link above with a pilot school milk programme to enhance milk consumption and livelihoods Objectives of this study To review nutrition and feeding programmes in Bangladesh and school milk programe in Thailand to draw lessons for designing the school milk pilot in Bangladesh

3 Methodology Review of published and unpublished literature and data Discussion with various stakeholders in the dairy sector and in school milk programmes in both the countries Specific discussion and field visits with GMPF about its past dairy operations, on-going activities and facilities in the context of plans for implementation of the new projects Discussion with FAORAP officials responsible for implementation of the projects

4 Review of nutrition and feeding programmes in Bangladesh

5 Status of poverty and child malnutrition in Bangladesh Poverty indicators Poverty head count ratio Poverty gap ratio % population below minimum level of dietary energy consumption Under 5 child malnutrition indicators Underweight Stunted Wasted Source: Sixth five year plan document

6 Nutrition and feeding programmes/projects ran and/or running to address malnutrition National Food and Nutrition Policy and Programme Bangladesh School Feeding Programme of the World Food Programme Bangladesh School Nutrition Programme of Land O Lakes and Tetra Pack School Milk Programme of Arla Foods Health, Nutrition and Food Security Project of CARE- Danone Japan Source:

7 Some nutrition and school feeding/educational projects without milk Nearly all are principally aid/donor funded and implemented mainly by NGOs with support from the government Under the National Food and Nutrition Policy and Programme a feeding project targeted to malnourished infants and pregnant mothers implemented in 105 out of 464 upazilas a project is implemented in 173 out of 464 upazilas to increase awareness of school students about balanced food and diet, nutrition and hygiene A school feeding project implemented since 2002 by WFP with support from the Ministry of Education To increase school enrolment, attendance and performance. currently distributes micronutrient fortified biscuits to 1.1 million students government is planning to expand the programme with own resources but with technical help from WFP

8 School milk project of Tetra Pack and Land O Lakes: Only proper school milk project implemented in the country Implemented during and in 4 upazilas in Jamalpur district with USAID donated powder milk to improve school enrolment, attendance and performance Powder milk was supplied to local dairy processors at agreed price and in lieu they delivered UHT milk to project upazilas at agreed price; further distribution to schools was arranged with local transport service providers. Distributed UHT milk to 500,000 students plus teachers in about 1000 primary schools Real objective was to test the acceptability of UHT milk in Bangladesh and create business opportunity for Tetra Pack s technology So project was stopped once commodity aid stopped but main objective achieved as dairy processors created UHT capacity and are marketing UHT milk in urban and small towns and rural areas

9 Tetra Pack School milk project outcomes and problems No objective impact assessment was done but positive outcomes have been mentioned in project progress reports School attendance and performance improved, absence reduced Created employment for project staff, local transport providers Created demand for a good amount of milk, which otherwise would not happen Problems experienced (but not fully documented)include being based on imported powder milk, created negative consequence for domestic dairy producers Duplication of student enrolment so needed extra supply of milk Pilferage of milk reaching non-targeted people, Students taking milk home to share with family as milk is a highly valued product that poor can t afford to buy, thus creating problems for measuring impact and performance

10 School milk project of Arla Foods in Dhaka slum area Danish Arla Foods co., largest exporter of powder milk to Bangladesh taking 30% share of powder milk market Imported powder and related trade, tariff and taxation policies have been found to favour exporters, domestic importers and dairy processors and not consumers and dairy producers as increased price transferred to consumers but not to producers As part of corporate social responsibility, Arla distributes UHT milk to a total of 800 students in Bangladesh, Vietnam and Dominican Republic. In Bangladesh, only one primary school in a slum area in Dhaka is served on school days but objective unclear

11 Grameen Danone : a social business Grameen Danone produces micronutrient fortified yoghurt in its Bogra plant by collecting milk from smallholder dairy producers in the district for selling to rural poor children to alleviate malnutrition Currently 20-30% of output sold in rural areas, rest in urban areas. Retail price still beyond the reach of most poor children Rural sales organized through mobile Rickshaw Van sellers and Shakti Ladies (women retailers) using cool boxes/bags A new product called fermented milk that will not require cold chain is under trial A new plant planned for Savar near Dhaka primarily targeting urban market, so the original objective of serving rural poor may remain unfulfilled.

12 CARE-Danone Japan project: Not school milk per se CARE-Danone Japan project promotes awareness about balanced food, nutrition and hygienic health practices among primary school students and teachers in 50 schools in Bogra district. Modules include special class lectures and school gardening as main activities Grameen Danone s yoghurt purchased by the project and given to students twice a month on project related special class days to encourage attendance. So it can t be categorized as a school milk programme per se Given only twice a month supply, impact not known, likely to be insignificant

13 Review of dairy development and role of school milk programme in Thailand

14 Thai dairy development since 1962 Dairy was not important in traditional mixed farming as cattle and buffaloes were mainly used for draft power and meat and no tradition of drinking milk among most adults Major initiative for dairy development since 1962 under Royal patronage and government support through Breed and feed development Extension and promotion of dairy farming as an alternative to less profitable crops especially in poorer regions away from Bangkok Promotion of dairy cooperatives to facilitate milk production, collection and marketing Promotion of dairy processing industry and milk consumption Trade and price policy to protect domestic dairy sector

15 Surplus production and school milk as a new market outlet since 1992 Due to various efforts since 1962, dairy farming and milk production rapidly increased In late 1980s, farmers protested to solve problems of surplus milk and low and variable price Rapid economic growth yet malnutrition was still widespread In 1992, Act promulgated to introduce school milk nationally to reduce child malnutrition, create future consumers and support dairy producers Milk purchased by government and distributed to schools, initially in kindergartens gradually adding other grades and number of days served, grade 6 reached in 17 th year after introduction of the programme

16 Outcome of Thai school milk programme 1: Child nutrition and economy wide effects Child health and nutrition Child malnutrition dropped from 18% in 1992 to <5% in 2006 Children height growth increased from 2-3 cm/yr in 1992 to 5 cm/yr by 2004 Economy wide effects (see tables) : Increased milk production and consumption but reduced import Increased processing capacity Increased income, employment Reduced regional disparity High pay-off on public expenditure

17 Year Outcome of school milk programme 2: Number of cows, milk production and import No of milking cows Milk output (tons) Powder milk import (tons) Source: FAOstat; Bureau of Trade, Govt of Thailand

18 Outcome of Thai school milk programme 3: Increased share of school milk in production and consumption Number students served by school milk, mil Annual budget, mil Bhat Milk consumption per capita, l/year <10 29 Milk consumption per school student, l/year School milk as % of domestic milk production School milk as % of total milk consumption 3 16 Domestic raw milk as % of overall consumption 24 44

19 Implications of Thai experience for Bangladesh

20 Summary of Thai experience Since 1962, strong public policy support with respect to breeding, extension, cooperative, tax, tariff, import and public investment significantly fostered dairy sector growth Since 1992 school milk at government cost played a key role in dairy sector growth, reduce import, alleviate child malnutrition, create future consumers of milk and support dairy producers Governance and financing mechanism of the programme evolved over time to address emerging problems such as quality control, use of raw vs powder milk, delivery problems due to long distance between processing plant and school, pricing at producer, school, processor and open market domains etc. These were resolved in a participatory manner involving all stakeholders including the Cabinet, the highest policy making body It is often argued that Thai dairy prospered due to government subsidies in various forms, which is true but the social return or pay-off from the public investment in the sector has been high, probably better than in any other field.

21 Implications for dairy sector in Bangladesh Dairy an important component of smallholder mixed farming providing food, income and employment but Per capita consumption about 11 lit/yr and >30% of overall consumption is imported Demand increasing rapidly due to income, population and urban growth supply response is poor due to low productivity and low marketed surplus, low and variable producer price, seasonality of production 15-17% of output collected from key milk sheds for processing for urban market, not adequate to induce investment by smallholder dairy farmers throughout the country Trade, tariff and price policies benefit only importers and processors, not producers and consumers

22 Implications for Bangladesh dairy 2 Poverty and malnutrition is widespread in the country Main feeding programmes/projects under food security policy are not targeted to schools School nutrition projects are based on micronutrient fortified biscuits rather than milk or for only creation of awareness about balanced food, sanitation and hygiene The only pilot school milk project implemented for a number of years was based on imported powder milk without any link with domestic dairy production sector, so stopped when supply stopped So there is an opportunity for introducing school milk programme as a market outlet for development of the dairy sector and reduction of malnutrition. A programme based on the principle local milk for local schools has much to recommend it as a pilot using Thai experience to test suitability of the idea and identify governance mechanism before larger public investments are made.

23 Design considerations for a pilot school milk project

24 Choice of sites for the school milk pilot Agreement in principle CFC funded dairy development project will be implemented in Sirajganj, Kurigram and Thakorgaon and school milk pilot will be implemented in one or two of the three sites based on the principle local milk for local schools One or two of the three to be chosen for the school milk pilot Choice of marketing options of the productivity-market access project will determine design and implementation of the school milk project

25 Pros and cons of Sirajganj and Thakurgaon as school milk pilot site(s) Sirajganj A major milk producing area, have GMPF facilities and some dairy activities in place Good access to milk processors if plan is to sell raw milk and buy processed milk But other dairy operators and interventions in place so piloting school milk may face multidimensional problems Thakurgaon Fairly free from other dairy operators so pilot can be planned easily But physical facilities (chilling plant) limited, not located in ideal place GMPF dairy activities virtually absent Poor access to market for milk so will be costly to operate

26 Milk marketing options for the productity-market access proejct and implication for school milk pilot Milk marketing strategy 1 Sell chilled milk to a large processor minus need for school milk 2 Add mini pasteurizing plant to existing chilling plant 3 Create central pasteurization facility collecting milk from all sites Implication for school milk pilot Unsuitable as chilled milk unsuitable for delivery to school and for school feeding Need cold chain to supply to school yet need to recognize no tradition in drinking cold milk More expensive plus points made in 2 4 Create mini UHT plant at each site Highly suitable but need large initial investment and expensive to run 5 Sell chilled milk and buy UHT for school milk 6 Sell chilled milk to Grameen Danone and buy back fortified yoghurt or fermented milk Suitable but local milk for local school may get diluted Suitable but operations expensive due to distance

27 Organization and management of the school milk pilot - 1 Factors to be considered for implementation modalities Target group has clear nutritional deficiency Intervention designed with local teams Well organized and managed schools Supervision in place to ensure milk consumed in school and control pilferage and inappropriate distribution to favoured persons Palatibility tested a priori Milk adequate to attract school attendance and adequate to relieve nutritional deficiency Participants aware of objective and methods of the project and participate voluntarily but effectively

28 Organization and management of the school milk pilot - 2 Choice of schools and grades to be served 2000 students to be served. Choose government primary and registered schools choose grades first 1-2 preferable as they will continue for three years, 3-5 will leave school after partial participation Then choose number of schools based on enrolment in grades 1-2 Chose a central point/school and expand the radius until 2000 students are found Seek approval of Ministry of Education and assistance of upazila Education Officers plus other local authorities in the selection process Make provision for milk for students and class teachers

29 Organization and management of the school milk pilot - 3 Management structure of the project A School Milk Management Committee for oversight, overall supervision and policy making A School Milk Project Committee for routine supervision and address urgent matters The School Milk Project office to run the daily activities Head Teachers of participating schools for management of the activities at the school

30 Organization and management of the school milk pilot - 4 Organization and implementation of the project Establish supply chain from supplier up to school store room and set up logistics Conduct orientation sessions for project stakeholders Conduct more intensive sessions with school staff, other project staff and community members with handouts Attribute of school store room/space Stock management procedure Daily distribution and consumption procedure Various recording forms e.g. stock movement, baseline data on students, end of project data Implement the activities

31 Conclusions Thai dairy development and school milk programme can be sources of important lessons for both dairy development and school milk pilot projects in Bangladesh GMPF should give more thought on project design and implementation modalities based on principles outlined in the report as GMPF is more conversant with CLDDP experience and current situation on the ground

32 Thanks for listening