On 24-25 April scientists from India and Tanzania gathered in Tanga, Tanzania for the inception meeting of the IFAD-funded MilkIT project. The project is implemented by ILRI and CIAT are a major partner. This was the first opportunity for the whole project team to get together, familiarize themselves with the project and begin to develop activities.
Partners from the project in Tanzania are
- Sokoine University of Agriculture, Department of Animal Science and Production
- Tanzania Livestock Research Institute, Tanga-Centre, Tanga
and in India:
- Institute of Himalayan Environmental Research and Education (INHERE)
- Central Himalayan Rural Action Group (CHIRAG)
Representatives from each partner organization participated in the meeting.
MilkIT is being implemented under the umbrella of the Livestock and Fish Research Program of the CGIAR and we planned activities jointly with a related project in Tanzania funded by Irish Aid.
During the meetings we spent time aligning our thinking on some key concepts: innovation platforms and how they work; and value chain approaches. We also discussed site selection following recent scoping visits to various prospective sites. Partnership arrangements, gender considerations and links to IFAD programs were also on our agenda.
Finally we made a start on developing activity plans for Year 1.
So the MilkIT train has now left the station and we are looking forward to seeing activities begin to take shape in coming months.
The project is funded by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). It started in January 2012 and runs for three years
This project is part of the CGIAR Research Program on Livestock and Fish.
