The overall objective along the dairy value chain in Zambia was to improve the income of smallholder dairy farmers in the Southern Province of Zambia, to increase the employment rate and to improve the local availability of dairy products. Actors of the supported small-scale farming enterprises were to gain access to productivity and income enhancing innovations, actors of the up and downstream enterprises along the dairy value chain were to gain access to innovations that enhance productivity and employment, all actors of the dairy value chain were to gain improved capacity to represent their interests, and transnational exchange between actors of the dairy industry involved in innovative approaches were to be strengthened.

The activities along the dairy value chain concentrated on building capacities of smallholder dairy cooperatives and 10.000 small scale dairy farmers in the following areas: cooperative governance, management and organisation; animal husbandry and dairy management, improvement of genetic resources, feeding regimes and fodder production; breeding of dairy cows; access to inputs and services and access to markets. In all mentioned measures particularly women and young farmers were empowered.

ADT Project Consulting led the thematic working areas on breeding and ICT. In the breeding component the project interventions included a comprehensive genetic survey followed by the improvement of practical breeding services for artificial insemination and provision of breeding bulls as well as capacity building on the strategy and organisation of the breeding work in Zambia. An Animal Breeding Summit at the end of October 2019 emphasized the importance of improved and well adapted dairy cattle genetics for milk production and promoted the new services to dairy farmers. In the ICT component two applications for the digitalization of information at milk supply (emilk) and the recording of breeding activities (ibreed) were developed and introduced. Additionally, ADT provided specific input in the areas of animal health, business development of cooperatives and milk processing.