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The partnership project ”The Milky Way toDevelopment” was initiated in 2014 as a DANIDA-supported initiative aimed at heightening the know-how of the West African dairy sector and developing and implementing socially responsible business models. . The main NGO partner was CARE along with the international dairy company Arla and a number of local dairy producers and small-scale local pastoralists.Arla did not receive any direct funding from the pro-ject and contributed mainly withman-hours and expenses connected to participation in the first Roundtable meeting in Copenhagen as well as hosting visits to Arla farmers and dairy processing facilities. during the initiative’s first two years.However, the outcome in terms of networkconnections was an impor-tant factor when the company decided to approach the second part of the project with signifi-cant involvement and the funding to match.“Our participation in The Milky Way to

Development has been value adding,” says Head of Corporate Responsibility at Arla International, Irene Quist Mortensen.“Particularly in relation to the network contacts that we established in the project, which has provided us with a very good platform to build on both in Nigeria and Senegal.”

Opening the West African marketAs the first part of the project was running, Arla decided to establish themselves more permanently in Nigeria; Africa’s most populated nation.

The company has been selling milk powder in the country for well over thirty years, but earlier this year, they opened up a branch and repacking unit in Lagos.“As always, it was a case of many things happening at the same time,” says Irene Quist Mortensen, “but through our engagement in The Milky Way

to Development we got in touch with the BillitalMarobe Network who is now a very important

ARLA: A FINANCIAL TWO-STEP ROCKETThe partnership ”Milky Way to Development” between CARE, ARLA, CERAD and Bilital Maroobe and a number of small scale sub-saharan pastoralists is gaining increased funding from the Danish dairy cooperativegiant. The results from the first leg of the project helped convince the company that investing in the partnership would be good business.

“Arla is owned by no-nonsense Danish farmers who expect to see a return on their investments”

- Irene Quist Mortensenhead of Corporate Responsibility,

Arla International

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Traditional milking technique in Western Africa.Photo @ by Irene Quist Mortensen

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partner to us in Western Africa,” she says.Billital Marobe is a regional NGO in West Africa that represents around half a million small-scale pastoralist farmers throughout the region.In the partnership’s second phase, Arla’s ambition is to learn more about innovative way to supporting the local dairy sector in Nigeria through a business driven approach – a country that was not included in the first part of the project.“From the beginning, the Milky Way to Development didn’t include Nigeria, but since the other partners, including CARE, agreed to include Nigeria in the project, it aligns beautifully with our new strategy for Western Africa,” says Irene Quist Mortensen.

Business – but not as usualArla makes no secret of the fact that their intention is to make a profit some time down the line.“There are many reasons why we are engaging,” says Irene Quist Mortensen. “Of course, one of them is that Arla is owned by no-nonsense Danish farmers who expect to see a return on their investments,” she says.At the same time, Arla is putting an effort intoworking with human rights, and becoming more aware of their role and responsibility as aninternational dairy corporation in a global context. Bearing that in mind, it makes perfect sense for the company more readily to support a project whose

Arla’s team for corporate reponsibility went to the field to understand the life of small scale pastoralists.Photo @ Irene Quist Mortensen

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Irene Quist MortensenHead of Corporate Responsibility, Arla International.

Photo @ by Jakob Brodersen / access2innovation

main purpose remains improving the local dairy sector and the livelihood of the local farmers, while at the same time establishes Arla’s presence in Western Africa in a more commercial manner.In November, Care and Arla will be hosting the second roundtable event in Nigeria’s capital Abuja – officially finalizing the second step of The Milky Way to Development.“We hope, however, that the Milky Way toDevelopment could be a permanent placeholder for

concrete actions. We want to participate in more innovative business models that supports local dairy sector development at emergent markets while at the same time creating value for Arla,” says Irene Quist Mortensen.

Read more about the Milky Way to Development: http://theguideline.dk/home/inspiration/west-afri-can-dairy-market

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THE MILKY WAY TO DEVELOPMENTThe partnership ‘The Milky Way to Development’ initiated in January 2014. The multi-stakeholder partnership has focused on the dairy sector in the West African countries of Niger, Mali and Senegal.The objective has been that international dairy enterprises and African dairies will gain the tools and knowledge to implement socially responsible business models clearly defining a role for small-scale producers.The partnership has mainly been funded by DANIDA together with CARE Danmark, who has contributed with 33 percent of the funding.

The dairy sector plays an important role in relation to building sustainable development in Western Africa.Photo @ Irene Quist Mortensen