Savita is just one of the women who participated. Through the program, she received training on both farming techniques and business practices, enabling her to produce greater quantities of quality dairy. Not only has Savita increased her family’s income, she is now also able to pass what she has learned on to both her community and future generations.
Dramatic Results for Farmers
Abbott's shared value approach is making a difference. The program results for participating farmers have been dramatic. Their production nearly doubled, and the milk had higher levels of protein, vitamins, minerals and fat — all key measures of high-quality milk. As a result, the farmers' income is more than double that of nonparticipants, while their costs have remained the same.
Participating farmers were more likely to adopt standardized dairy practices, including only selling milk from healthy animals, using steel cans to hold milk and cleaning the animals properly. Adopting these practices increased the quality and cleanliness of the milk, meeting Abbott's strict quality standards and allowing the company to source milk locally for its nutrition products in India. To date, Abbott has made a difference in the lives of more than 1,500 dairy farmers, developing an empowered, more sustainable supply chain.
The program has been a resounding success. Our partner Prabhat plans to scale up the program to reach many more farmers. Dairy farmers will have access to the knowledge and tools to be empowered partners in the milk-production process.
With this planned expansion, Abbott projects that the participating farmers will be able to supply the equivalent of 50 percent of our needed skim milk powder volume, providing real value to our nutrition business and the families who depend on our products in India.
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