Socioeconomic impacts of innovative dairy supply chain practices: The case of the Laiterie du Berger in the Senegalese Sahel
This article (PDF) in the journal International Food and Agribusiness Management Review analyzes the Laiterie Du Berger (LDB)’s milk supply chain and its contribution to strengthening the food security and socioeconomic resources of Senegalese Sahelian pastoral households. The main innovations generated by the LDB consist of (1) settling dairy farmers within a 50 km radius of the dairy; (2) organizing six daily milk collection routes; (3) providing animal feed through a check-off recovered on future milk sales; and (4) providing technical support to farmers. Data for this research were obtained through individual surveys, focus groups and in-depth interviews of LDB managers and milk suppliers. This study has shown that the innovative raw milk supply chain developed by the LDB in Northern Senegal has allowed the dairy to increase its number of pastoralist suppliers, and the quantity and quality of the milk they sold to the processing plant. Results suggest that by contributing to stabilizing suppliers’ dairy incomes in the dry season, diversifying income sources and enabling households to keep capitalizing into substantial livestock herds, the LDB’s milk supply chains could have played an important role in securing some of its supplier households’ food security. The LDB innovations contribute by helping herders access biophysical and economic resources, leading to better livestock feed and household food security.