WORLD RESOURCES INSTITUTE

What Works Case Study

WHAT WORKS: AKASHGANGA'S IT TOOLS FOR THE INDIAN DAIRY INDUSTRY
Using IT to increase efficiency in rural dairy cooperatives

AJAY SHARMA AKHILESH YADAV August 2003

SUPPORT FOR THIS DIGITAL DIVIDEND “WHAT WORKS” CASE STUDY PROVIDED BY:
THE MICROENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENT DIVISION OF THE UNITED STATES AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT (USAID), THROUGH THE SEEP NETWORK'S PRACTITIONER LEARNING PROGRAM

THE DIGITAL DIVIDEND “WHAT WORKS” CASE STUDY SERIES IS MADE POSSIBLE THROUGH SUPPORT FROM: THE INFORMATION FOR DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM (INFODEV) MICROSOFT IN PARTNERSHIP WITH: COLUMBIA BUSINESS SCHOOL UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN BUSINESS SCHOOL UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA KENAN-FLAGLER BUSINESS SCHOOL

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
India has quadrupled its milk output in forty years, becoming the world’s largest milk-producing nation, with a gross output of 84.6 million tons in 2001. It has achieved this on the strength of a producer-owned and professionally-managed cooperative system, despite the fact that a majority of dairy farmers are illiterate or semi-literate and run small, marginal operations; for many dairy farmers, selling milk is their sole source of income. More than ten million dairy farmers belong to 96,000 local dairy cooperatives, which sell their product to one of 170 milk producers’ cooperative unions which, in turn, are supported by fifteen state cooperative milk marketing federations. Despite this achievement, India’s dairy industry is relatively inefficient and unproductive, with yields per cow less than one-fifth those of foreign producers who will soon have access to India’s domestic market under WTO rules. Moreover, much of India’s milk products are of relatively poor quality, a consequence of poor animal health, a polluted and unclean environment, and manual handling delays. The resulting poor quality