Communiqué

The Humpty Dumpty Institute

Monthly Communiqué from Sri Lanka

May 2008

YARLCO records highest milk collection in the month of May

YARLCO, the Jaffna-based Dairy Cooperative, is a major partner in our Sri Lanka program.  We are very pleased to report that during the month of May, 2008, YARLCO collected a record-breaking 93,650 liters of raw milk from farmers in and around Jaffna, most of whom have participated in our program.  This is the highest level ever recorded in the history of YARLCO. It also broke processing plant records by processing 15,000 liters of milk into value added products in the form of ice cream, yoghurt, paneer and milk popsicles. HDI’s implementing partner, Land O’ Lakes, has made great progress in increasing milk production working with cattle farmers, training them in clean milk production, cattle nutrition, breeding & disease control and building YARLCO’s capacity. In fact, YARLCO has surpassed its capacity by purchasing 766,344 liters of raw milk resulting in over $267,500 of income to marginalized farmers. YARLCO too has posted profits. And the people of Jaffna have access to more nutritious and safe milk products. YARLCO also increased its dairy mash feed production and recorded over 65 metric tons in May.

Milk production in the Jaffna District decreased by 66% between 1989 and 2003 due mainly to the civil war and a large number of mine fields.  As our project is beginning to demonstrate, the dairy and livestock sector in Jaffna holds untapped potential for generating increased household incomes and improving livelihoods for rural families.

In spite of the deteriorating security situation in the Jaffna peninsula, HALO Trust continues to work tirelessly. In May, HALO Trust worked on 17 manual sites funded by HDI and completed clearing 2 minefields. They cleared 12,194 square meters of land.  Three new tasks were released by the District Mine Action office to HALO which is seen as a major breakthrough as these were previously restricted tasks.