To uplift the status and lives of Filipino dairy farmers, Alaska Milk Corporation (AMC) established its Dairy Development Program or DDP.
The main objective of DDP is to support our local dairy farmers through training and workshops in attaining a high level of milk quality and safety, increasing farm productivity, and gaining access to the market. After its launching last year in partnership with the National Dairy Authority (NDA) and UP Los Banos – Dairy Training and Research Institute (UPLB-DTRI), AMC has been able to train 100 local dairy farmers. This year we are aiming to train close to 300 dairy farmers, some of them dairy cooperative members.
In present, AMC is reaching farmers from different provinces in the Philippines with ongoing and potential dairy production. Last 25-26 October 2022, AMC and NDA went to Sta. Cruz, Marinduque, for a 2-day training and seminar for the dairy farmers in the locality. Fifteen dairy farmers were taught about Basic Husbandry for more efficient reproduction and cattle milking. After the session, the farmers were given training certificates and modules for the said topic.
Recently, AMC, NDA, and Agriterra held another interactive seminar and workshop for the member farmers of Samahan ng Maggagatas ng Batangas Cooperative (SAMABACO) last 27-29 October 2022 in Lipa, Batangas. This venture also included actual milking training of the cows. Eighteen farmers benefited from the said event.
Agriterra is an international, non-profit agri-agency that works in emerging and developing economies for international peer-to-peer agricultural cooperation. On November 2021, AMC signed a multi-million contract agreement with Agriterra, together with NDA, to conduct cooperative assessments and provide capacity building to various dairy cooperatives in Southern Luzon. This partnership has a long-term goal of scaling up the domestic fresh milk supply and contributing to the sustainable development of the dairy industry in the region.
In the following months, AMC, with its partner organizations and agencies, will conduct similar seminars and training for other local dairy farmers in Batangas, Camarines Sur, Rizal, Mindoro, and Palawan. This will focus on improving the farmers’ farming governance, financial management, climate resilience, and more effective dairy farming. It will also provide technical assistance to support them in gaining access to local and international markets.
In the works to further the mission of pursuing dairy development, AMC is establishing the Philippine-Netherlands Dairy Excellence Center or PNDEC. This is to institutionalize the current dairy training and development program that aims to raise raw milk quality and safety, increase productivity per cow, and provide other support to the local dairy farmers. PNDEC envisions a profitable, competitive, and sustainable growing dairy industry in the Philippines to contribute to food security, more sustainable milk production, and raising the living standards of our local dairy farmers. PNDEC targets the Philippines to be a self-sufficient milk-producing country by 2027.