Study sites
Overview of national dairy sectors and Africa-milk’s dairy processors
The four African countries
The four African countries have been selected to cover diverse agro-climatic contexts, from low-altitude savannah regions (Senegal, Burkina Faso) to high- and medium altitude tropical areas (Madagascar, Kenya), and a large diversity of dairy sector (Table 1):
Table 1: Schematic view of the national dairy sectors in the four research countries of Africa-Milk (source: faostat, years 2012 to 2017 depending on items)
| Countries | Senegal | Burkina Faso | Madagascar | Kenya | |
| Domestic milk production | |||||
| Cattle | (heads) | 3 547 777 | 9 459 172 | 10 288 740 | 19 198 692 |
| Dairy cows | (heads) | 642 904 | 1 543 333 | 1 864 264 | 6 100 000 |
| Milk production (1) | (ton/year) | 123 766 | 196 770 | 543 039 | 3 706 796 |
| Milk yield | (kg/dairy cow) | 193 | 127 | 291 | 607 |
| Milk processing | |||||
| Skimmed milk | (ton/year) | 9 382 | 19 393 | no data | 623 422 |
| Milk powder (dried) | (ton/year) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 700 |
| Condensed & evaporate milk | (ton/year) | 0 | 0 | 719 | 915 |
| Other dairy products (*) | (ton/year) | 822 | 1 043 | no data | 37 937 |
| Importations | |||||
| Milk powder (dried) | (ton/year) | 13 744 | 8 004 | 2 378 | 9 762 |
| Condensed & evaporate milk | (ton/year) | 2 226 | 13 040 | 2 433 | 104 |
| Milk (whole & skimmed) | (ton/year) | 5 658 | 1 359 | 2 042 | 8 225 |
| Other dairy products (*) | (ton/year) | 4 476 | 387 | 921 | 470 |
| Food supply | |||||
| Milk equivalent consumption | (kg/capita/year) | 21,9 | 24,6 | 25,5 | 98,3 |
(*) cheese, butter, cream, yogurts, etc.
Africa-milk works with nine milk processors
Africa-milk works with nine milk processors (two per country in Senegal, Burkina and Madagascar, and three in Kenya) and with the network of their milk suppliers (milk farmers, collectors). These dairy processors have been selected to cover a large diversity of size and milk production features (Table 2):
Table 2: Schematic view of the nine dairy processors partners of Africa-Milk (source: personal data)
| Type of dairy | Name (country) | L/day | Producers |
| Mini-dairies | Bonnet Vert (BF) | 300 | 30 |
| Plateforme Lait Banfora (BF) | 800 | 100 | |
| Kirène (SN) | 800 | 75 | |
| Sodimilk (MD) | 1,500 | 150 | |
| Medium size dairies | Laiterie du Berger (SN) | 4,000 | 900 |
| Mukurweini Wakulima Dairy (KE) | 7,000 | 7,400 | |
| Happy Cow (KE) | 9,000 | 2000 | |
| Socolait (MD) | 11,000 | 2,000 | |
| Industrial dairies | nKCC (KE) | 350,000 | 100,000 |
-
The dairy sector in Burkina Faso is characterized by a high dispersion of production throughout the country and a low industrial development around a few artisanal dairy processors. -
Kenya is the leading milk producer in East Africa. Dairy is the largest agricultural sub-sector in Kenya in terms of income and employment creation contributing to 4% to overall GDP. -
The dairy sector in Madagascar is mainly concentrated in the dairy triangle of Vakinankaratra province. -
The dairy sector in Senegal is characterized by a high dispersion of production throughout the country and an intermediate industrial development, with a few industrial dairy plants and many artisanal dairy processors.