6th+DDF+Meeting-May+2016

The Dairy Development Forum (DDF) has been in existence since its launch in February 2013 and had held five meetings since then. Its vision is “//Towards a More Inclusive Dairy Development in Tanzania//”. The Tanzania Dairy Board (TDB) is the Secretariat of the DDF and in this role coordinates the platform, which was set up with the support of the Irish Aid-funded ILRI-led More Milk in Tanzania (MoreMilkiT) project. The DDF plays a crucial role in improving communications among DDF members is considered crucial to the realization of a vibrant dairy sector and attracting more investments to transform the sector. The DDF is additional ammunition in the hands of the TDB to mobilize, coordinate and promote the dairy sector in line with its statutory role in the Dairy Industry Act of Tanzania. TDB and other dairy sector stakeholders held the 6th Dairy Development Forum (DDF) on 29th May 2016 during the Milk Week Celebration in Njombe.

The 6th DDF brought together various stakeholders including but not limited to livestock farmers, research and development partners like ILRI, Heifer, SNV, Land O’ Lakes; Ministry of Agriculture Livestock and Fisheries, and other players in dairy value chain. The objective of this 6th DDF was to share progress and feedback from the task forces formed during the last DDF meetings addressing specific issues around Dairy Genetics and Availability of Feed resources to create solutions for these systemic bottlenecks towards a more inclusive dairy development in Tanzania. The platform discussions included:


 * Synthesis output of the 1st to 5th DDF Meetings
 * Value Chain Actors’ access to finance
 * Introduction of a Public Private Partnership for Artificial insemination Tanzania Program (PAID)
 * East Africa Dairy Development (EADD) – Tanzania :
 * Dairy Consumers’ Study
 * Cost of Milk Production (CoP) in the Southern Highlands of Tanzania
 * EADD Approaches: Hub model and Social Capital Development Feedback from various groups on thematic issues
 * Inspiration stories from Dairy Platforms,
 * Way Forward