Steady market growth for probiotic yoghurt in East Africa

NEADAP partners with the Yoba for Life Foundation in catalysing the local production of probiotic yoghurt. This yoghurt has proven health benefits and a longer shelf life than raw milk. Also, it can be produced under low-tech conditions.

Yoba for Life trains entrepreneurs and cooperatives to produce yoghurt using a probiotic starter culture. In addition to covering technical topics, the training includes the basics of business administration, such as sourcing inputs, marketing, bookkeeping and certification according to national requirements. Finally, Yoba for Life links the probiotic yoghurt producers to school feeding programmes.

Currently, 340 production units in Uganda, Ethiopia, Tanzania and Kenya produce 97,000 litres of probiotic yoghurt per week. This means employment for 1,500 small-scale producers and their employees; 51% of these businesses are owned by women. The estimated number of regular consumers is 400,000, among which are 40,000 school-children who consume the product on a weekly basis.

These numbers show that probiotic yoghurt is a proven solution. NEADAP supports the scaling process via various strategies:

• Yoba for Life started a collaboration with Mellow Foods, which is headed by Philip Komolo, a social entrepreneur from Kenya. With Yoba’s existing materials and experience, Philip developed a paid training for aspiring yoghurt entrepreneurs. Philip’s training is now included in Kenya’s Agricultural Sector Development Support Program, targeting cooperatives in various counties of Kenya.
• NEADAP and Yoba for Life also co-organized a symposium in Uganda with over 40 decision-makers from relevant NGOs and government agencies. The symposium presented the benefits of probiotic yoghurt and discussed the impact of Yoba for Life so far. As a result, probiotic yoghurts and the Yoba approach are now on the radar of various government institutions and major NGOs.
• A plan waiting for the next phase of NEADAP is to develop an interactive online course for training of trainers. Yoba aims to target new groups of entrepreneurs who are interested in learning about yoghurt production and basic business skills through videos, reading materials and quizzes.

While both consumption and production are on a growth path, NEADAP and Yoba are focused on the enabling environment. This includes the certification process by the relevant government bodies, who are responsible for monitoring producers and the quality of their yoghurt products. In addition, there is a particular focus on promoting yoghurt consumption in schools.

In conclusion, the collaboration between NEADAP and the Yoba for Life Foundation aims for sustainable scaling of probiotic yoghurt consumption and production, as it has benefits for the local economy and for healthy diets.