Developing local dairy production: the Laiterie du Berger, Senegal

This paper describes the work performed by the Laiterie du Berger, a dairy production unit in the Senegal River delta. It retraces the results of a field survey conducted among the cattle farmers who supply the dairy. Its general objective is to assess the impact of the Laiterie du Berger, as an industrial dairy production unit, on the cattle-rearing practices, standard of living, and way of life of the farmers. It offers an account of a positive experience of agricultural development through the creation of a social business in Senegal. After describing the project behind the Laiterie du Berger, the paper reports the main results, and ends with a discussion on the implications of dairy production in dry pastoral areas.