A new milk collection facility was opened on May 19, 2011 in Veyisli village of Goranboy district that will allow dairy farmers in the Veyisli community to sell their milk to commercial processors, increasing income for local residents.

Cattle-breeding and dairy farming are the main occupations in the Veyisli community. However, historically, farmers sell only 40% of their total production, with the remaining 60% sold cheaply to middlemen or made into cheese, yogurt, and cottage cheese to be kept through the winter. Moreover, in summer, hot weather and excess milk production combined with the lack of local sales opportunities have forced farmers to transport their products nearby to Ganja or the local market for sale. These factors add additional costs to farmers in terms of transport, time, and decreased product quality.

To address these problems, with the support of community members, a milk collection point was installed under a project of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) “Community Based Support to Producers of Dairy Products”. The project is co-financed by British Petroleum and its partners and is implemented by “UMID”, Support to Social Development Public Union, since 2009.

“This milk collection point will help some 2000 community members improve the quality of their dairy products and increase incomes”, said Mariam Ubilava, Project Manager from the Economic Growth Office of USAID/Azerbaijan, speaking to the local population at the opening of the milk collection point.

Six additional milk collection points will be installed in western and central regions of Azerbaijan in the coming months under the Support to Producers of Dairy Products program, creating additional income earning possibilities for Azerbaijani small dairy farmers.