Anakkara Dairy Project

Project proposal A pilot study on commercialising indigenous dairy for sustainable agriculture and agritourism.

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Project Overview

Anakarra Dairy Project (ADP) is essentially a pilot study on successfully rearing and running an organic indigenous dairy/farm. The project will simultaneously also provide travelers and volunteers the opportunity to stay within the farm to learn and engage with its own unique experience. The farm will be operated by a dedicated team that will ensure and abide by a systematic plan ; however at the same time the project will be maintaining a record of the data and information to further learn and understand dairy-farming. ADP is essentially a prototype project to explore the option of commercial micro-scale organic dairy-farming using indigenous cattle, while providing an experience of agri-tourism and voluntourism.

Goals

1. Successfully build an organic dairy farm that can be adapted for future agri-projects.

2. Along with the farm, to simultaneously operate a campsite for an agri-tourism project.

3. To develop and build a brand for finished dairy products.

Specifications

The project will be finished in two phases : setting up the dairy farm and then building up a unique experience in agri-tourism. The farm will first test and develop a successful model of sustainable and replicable system of organic farming.

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Dairy Farm Essentially 3 stages will be needed to develop the farm :

1. Develop the farm infrastructure. 2. Nurture a passionate and dedicated team. 3. Build a processing unit to develop quality-ensured finished dairy products.

Marketing

Essentially the brand of the company will reflect the 3 core values that CGH has adopted;

● Protecting local communities and traditions. ● Protecting the environment and natural ecosystem. ● Protecting the natural and community ethos of the region.

Based on these core values, a team will be needed and found to help develop a brand name to reflect the concept of the project. The team will preferably be partnered by a professional marketing service agency. "Our approach must be refining the product, strengthening the brand, and getting a very sensitive and yet creative team that wholly understands our product. We must have a uniform understanding of our core values which will then lead to product definition."

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Agritourism

The second phase of the project is to kick-start a tourism model that will be based around sustainable agriculture. In many ways the concept of ADP is to re-create a modern “goshala”. A goshala is a haven for cows while also being a place of learning and gaining practical experience of a dairy/farm. Guests are volunteers that are involved in the spirit of community. The idea is to learn in ADP through shared knowledge, with the experience of volunteers getting involved to learn. The involvement however is not mandatory. The experience is a shared choice. The farm will be operated primarily with all responsibility given to the core team. However, guests are welcomed to get involved with the experience of not only working in the dairy/farm but also working and learning in the kitchen or vegetable gardens, etc. Even the dairy lab can be accessed to learn and work in for guests, however only after due training and experience. The experience of ADP is a mixture of working in the farm to building a sense of community while staying in the dairy/farm.

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Aggregating farms under a single brand This is the third phase of the project, which is an option to increase dairy production. This can be done by aggregating similar like-minded, passionate farmers that have a keen interest in creating similar projects like ADP, as ADP is quintessentially only a pilot study to learn the working of a successful sustainable micro-dairy. The plan is to adopt this learning and to help create similar tailor-made units all over the state/country. We can provide the service of designing the farm layout and infrastructure needed, training for operation of the dairy with general inquiries and updates. The farmer will however need to sell his dairy production back to the parent company that will use the dairy to develop and increase finished dairy products for increased volume in supply in the market. The farmer will be incentivised by a high value of buyback price from the parent company ; however, this will be in accordance with the standard of practise that will need to be strictly followed for premium quality.

The approach is to decentralise dairy/agriculture with small scale farming but with high efficiency and quality being practised. In the same way markets too can be community based and use the inputs of the local partnership farmers of the parent company. The strategy deployed is not only to ensure premium dairy/agricultural products but to empower local small-scale farmers.

In summary ADP as a pilot study is the first integral step of a learning curve that can teach us a lot for a successful model for a sustainable agribusiness and agri tourism. At this point, much of the discussion is still being developed and there is still room for more improvement in further detailing and fine tuning of the project. However, it will be based on the practical experience and trial from Anakkara Dairy Project from which we can learn to understand what it will take to accomplish the larger and longer-term goals that are envisioned for the project.