Story of a successful dairy business which has increased the income of a farmer and also of other farmers who are selling their milk to her!
This is a story of how Lata started a successful dairy business that collects substantial amounts of milk locally, benefiting her family with an increased income of Rs. 6000 per month, & the community by supporting & increasing the income of other farmers who are selling their milk to her!
Lata Langade, from Gaur in Osmanabad, Maharashtra, used to work on 3-acre family farm with her husband, growing grains & cash crops as their only source of income. Fully dependent on rainfall for irrigating their crops, they faced economic hardships for many years, until she joined SSP in 2019.
Initially, she received training and adopted SSP’s ‘one-acre farming model’ to successfully grow organic vegetable crops. Seeing its success, she was emboldened to apply for the dairy project that SSP initiated in partnership with Promethean in late-2020.
In Lata’s village, the existing dairies did not pay farmers a fair amount for their milk and their prices varied depending on the dairy owner. Lata took it upon herself to support women and other small farmers by starting her own dairy. Thus, in January 2021, Laxmi Dairy was started by Lata after receiving training from SSP on running a dairy and other technical issues associated with milk collection.
Initially, Lata faced many challenges in collecting milk. Her fellow villagers did not trust her to run the dairy single-handedly, without the support of a man. However, through repeated home visits, awareness raising and a focus on women farmers, she slowly began growing her business in the local community. Today she is connected to over 100 farmers, and collects approximately 500 Litres of milk daily. The money from milk-collection is directly transferred into grassroots women farmers bank accounts.Swayam Shikshan Prayog
02nd December, 2021