The Inclusive Dairy Enterprise project for Uganda (TIDE) The Inclusive Dairy Enterprise project (TIDE) is an initiative of SNV in collaboration with WUR CDI  the Friesian  DDA (Dairy Development Authority). The duration of this project is from October 2015 until December 2019 and it is submitted to the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands (EKN) in Uganda. The impact of this project is poverty reduction through improved dairy farm incomes  household nutrition and employment opportunities for 20000 farmers. 
The Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Uganda has supported investment in the cold chain in the South Western milk shed by installing 100 milk coolers. The Inclusive Dairy Enterprise (TIDE) project enables small and medium-sized dairy farmers and their organisations to leverage on these investments by strengthening the milk value chain to improve their incomes and the nutritional status of their families in six districts in South-West Uganda. 
The TIDE project contributes to poverty reduction in South West Uganda by supporting agricultural transformation. Using the drive of the private sector  which has expanded processing capacity  more dairy farms can connect to the dairy value chain. The expanding milk markets both in and outside Uganda can be served by improving the quality and seasonality of dairy production. The focus will be on small and medium dairy farms to ensure that women and youth benefit from this transformation.
The project has four components to achieve its objectives:1. Improved dairy farm productivity2. Improved commercial milk quality3. Improved pro-active dairy regulation4. Improved dairy household nutrition
The challenges to strengthen the dairy value chain in Uganda are basically threefold:
• Strengthen the cooperative• Improve production by increasing productivity per cow• Increase farmers’ income by increasing the milk price at farm gate level
Although these three issues are obviously interlinked  Agriterra believes there is a clear division of tasks possible: SNV  WUR CDI  and the Friesian have extensive (technical) know-how on what’s needed to increase productivity. Added value of Agriterra is to strengthen the structures (cooperative) to embed this knowledge in a sustainable way  and second to increase milk prices at farm level. This can be done by increasing milk volumes and by adding value to the milk (processing). Within the overall TIDE project framework  Agriterra will particularly focus on:- Leading the project activity  supporting the dairy cooperative societies in southwest Uganda to improve their functioning  and moving them to become bankable where possible,- Strengthening the extension component of the TIDE project  by providing practical dairy farming expertise.Agriterra will implement that role by making available local and expatriate staff  mobilising expert missions from its Agripool and in general linking its extensive network of dairy contacts in The Netherlands to relevant project activities and components.  2017
Agriterra is involved in cooperative engagement  supports cooperative development for dairy farmers. The approach involves three levels of engagement  i.e.
  
-       a selected group of cooperatives (23 so far  but increasing to 35) has an intensive support and training programme  aiming to diversify the range of services provided to farmers,
  
-       a larger group of cooperatives (73) is not part of the pre-selected group  but acquired a milk cooler under the aBi project: this group will be supported with targeted training and support to strengthen operations (this is funded by aBi),
  
-       the remaining cooperatives (approx. 70) does not have specific support yet  but during this year some of the products will be made available to them on a demand basis.
  
While so far this component has been supply-driven  during this year a shift will be made towards a more market-based approach  involving packaging project offerings in products that can be accessed on demand (also gradually involving cost-sharing). Products include governance  financial management and business development  with methodologies including training and coaching  mentoring.

Goals:
- 12 bankable cooperatives

  2018:
In addition to agriterra's core mandate  in TIDE project, improving cooperative governance  financial management  and business development   Agriterra will focus on the uptake of the following cooperative specific products. 
-    29 milk cooler distribution and placement
-     Fodder and silage,  Coops supports farmers to 1. Clear land and fence, 2. Plough and harrow, 3. Cultivate fodder/ pasture, 4. Harvest and conserve, 5. Store (silage + hay)- 30 Cooperatives
-     Silage/ Hay making youth group, Supporting cooperative societies with forming youth groups to make silage for members- Target 30 cooperatives
-    Mechanization, cooperatives access equipment to supplement the tractors from the NAADS clusters - Target  10 cooperatives

-    Water for production, Coops engage contractor to develop on-farm water facilities (tailor-made)- Target 5 clusters
-    Cooperative Digitization, Coops digitalise dairy records and milk payments- Target 30 cooperatives
Goal: 45 bankable cooperatives
  2019
The Inclusive Dairy Enterprise project (TIDE)
  
Cooperative Development Unit (CDU) 2019 Goals
  
Governance: Many of the bankable cooperatives are now able to watch and guard against bad
  
governance. To safeguard against wastage as well as fraud  internal control structures need to be
  
strengthened by putting in place internal Audit functions/ Supervisory committees and adherence
  
to regulations especially in the areas of conducting Annual audits and General Meetings.
  
In addition  collaboration between cooperatives will be supported. Most of the cooperatives were
  
initiated to qualify for acquiring milk chilling equipment. But for effective marketing  cooperatives
  
start realizing that it makes more sense to be a big cooperative with several milk collection centers spread around the community  rather than having several small cooperatives each owning their own cooler. The need to work together and effecting the cooperative principle of Cooperating among Cooperatives will be
  
given high priority in cooperative extension in 2019  so that not only the cooperatives benefit from economies of scale but also buyers/processors easily get the supply they require.
  
Financial Management: Support to improved record keeping and generally Financial
  
Management has necessitated the need to digitize most of the transactions at the cooperatives.
  
The plan to also roll out the Quality Based milk Payment System calls for computerization of most
  
of the work. Further training and coaching/mentoring will include support to cooperatives in
  
acquiring both Hard and Software in this process of digitization.
  
Cooperative business performance is greatly affected by poor business at farm level. Most of the
  
farms are not yet close to performing at optimum levels as far as milk production is concerned and
  
hence milk coolers cannot fill up during dry seasons. Access to affordable credit/capital for on farm
  
investment is a bottleneck and linkage to SACCOs for possible partnership with producer
  
cooperatives shall be the major focus in 2019.
  
Business Case Development: Both in order to strengthen member commitment and loyalty  but
  
also for its own business case (to get milk coolers to benefit from increased production) 
  
cooperatives will be encouraged to act as a channel for services and products  which can assist its
  
members to increase productivity. This could also involve the cooperative playing a role itself in
  
service provision  either through affiliated service providers (youth groups) or dedicated business
  
units (farm mechanization).
  
Access to better markets is number one agenda for most of the bankable cooperatives. The feeling
  
that the current market is unstable/unreliable is a key challenge to strategic planning and
  
budgeting processes. Strategic partnerships with processors and investment partners shall be prioritized.
  
Co-operative based extension
  
The main project approaches to stimulating learning are through the PDTFs and the promotion of cooperative societies. 
  
In the absence of government plans for effective extension services  the value chain actors may need to
  
take up that role. As part of potential collaboration with Amos Dairy  the TIDE project piloted dairy
  
cooperative societies to employ extension officers. While Amos withdrew from the pilot  TIDE is continuing
  
with the pilot for now. 
  
Inclusive business models
  
The aim of this theme is to document and share lessons learned from working with cooperative societies (both as value chain actors and value chain supporters) and to assess other models of smallholder inclusion as an input to wider policy discussions on improving and enabling the environment for inclusive dairy development. During the inception  trends were studied in input  service provision relationships between smallholder farmers and cooperatives  dairy processors  input suppliers and service providers. Also a conceptual framework was developed for an inventory of the various ‘inclusive’ models in Kenya  Ethiopia and Uganda. During 2019  the field research will be combined with learning and exchange events within the East African context to result in White Papers (one for each country)  sharing the lessons learned  including recommendations or guidelines for stimulating and professionalizing dairy cooperatives. Within the overall TIDE project framework  Agriterra will particularly focus on:- Leading the project activity  supporting the dairy cooperative societies in southwest Uganda to improve their functioning  and moving them to become bankable where possible,- Strengthening the extension component of the TIDE project  by providing practical dairy farming expertise.Agriterra will implement that role by making available local and expatriate staff  mobilising expert missions from its Agripool and in general linking its extensive network of dairy contacts in The Netherlands to relevant project activities and components.
Initial proposal is to have 7 missions in 2016:3 advisory with 2 experts (including 1 mission for company assessments)3 technical with 2 farmers 
At the end of 2016  a mission for ‘evaluation’ is requested  and can be invoiced 100%.And full time availability of Emile in Mbarara  being part of the TIDE team on Cooperative Development. 
The rest of the budget will be on 50/50 basis.