Eighty-five percent of Malawi’s population live in rural areas with the majority farming on less than one hectare of land. Dairy farming, a locally viable and lucrative industry, had stagnated in Malawi in recent decades. A government surtax limited the profits, and for many poor farmers, purchasing a cow was impossible.

Beginning in 1999, USAID began reviving the local dairy industry in Malawi through training and in-kind loans to farmers. New dairy farmers are trained in basic skills such as animal husbandry and record keeping. A special loan program provides a pregnant cow to a farmer, who in turn passes on the cow’s young to another program member. Local associations of at least seventy-five farmers share a milk cooling center, where farmers deliver their milk -- by foot or bicycle -- to be picked up daily by a milk processing company.

USAID’s dairy program now has 6,000 member farmers in Malawi and reaches all three regions of the country - approximately 50% of the members are women. The program’s dairy farmers earn on average of $600 per year from their milk sales, compared to the per capita income in Malawi of only $180. National advocacy helped eliminate the government surtax on farmers’ income from milk sales. USAID expects to add thousands of dairy farmers each year to the growing dairy industry in Malawi.