Assessing societal changes from changing dairy value chains in Sahelian pastoral communities
In this article by ILRI, a method is introduced that is being tried out in Senegal to measure the social impacts of dairy supply chain innovation in pastoralist societies. To collect and add value to milk from local herders and to help meet increasing demand for milk products in Dakar, a dairy plant has adapted its supply chain to the social customs of the Fula herders of this region. Women and children now stay put with the producing dairy cows and no longer travel with the men and the rest of the herd as they used to. Societal cohesion in the community has increased due to the increased dairy incomes, which are enabling the women to buy house building materials and to start consuming goods and services that were formerly out of their reach.