Developing analytical and advisory networks to improve milk quality from smallholder dairy farms in Tanzania.

Smallholder dairy farming systems contribute around 80% of milk production in Tanzania, with a significant role in improving the livelihood of farmers and poverty reduction through income generation and creation of employment. However due to the technical barriers they face, smallholder producers and processors do not attain the required standards for the regional and international milk markets. There is low usage of novel technologies and practices that would ensure high quality milk production, processing and marketing.

The objectives of this project are:

I) to develop and test mid infra-red spectrometer and mobile phone camera technologies to analyse milk quality in smallholder dairy production systems;

II) to identify the optimal pattern for deployment of different levels of equipment (with different capabilities and costs) at milk collection centres, dairies and reference labs;

III) to strengthen and facilitate adoption of milk quality diagnostic techniques by processors at milk collection centres and processing dairies; and

IV) to develop an app and cloud-based data platform to promote information on milk safety standards and marketing along the dairy value chain.