Creating value with local milk

Through its dairy development activities FrieslandCampina strives to create value with milk by sharing knowledge with dairy farmers and service providers in Asia, Africa and Eastern Europe. In 2012 FrieslandCampina Vietnam and partners started the Facility for Sustainable Entrepreneurship and Food Security (FDOV) programme. Recently a project called “Development of Sustainable Dairy Sector in Vietnam”* as part of the programme has come to an end. And all partners involved are proud of the achieved results. Those include among other things increased yield and higher incomes for participating farmers.

Truong Van Hong from the province of Hà Nam is a young dairy farmer and a professional hoof trimmer. He participated in the FDOV programme over the past five years and shares his personal experience in the below story.

The beginning

“My family entered the dairy farming business in 2014 with ten cows. Prior to that we had neither experience with nor knowledge of dairy farming. Logically this inexperience led to many problems on our farm. For example, the cows easily got health issues as we did not know how to take care of them properly.”

Improving dairy farm management

“When the FDOV programme was implemented in the province of Hà Nam, I took active participation and received a lot of trainings on dairy farming techniques. The trainings offered varied from basics to advanced knowledge. The project also gave me access to a digital tool called MyDairyFarmTool. The MyDairyFarmTool application made our farm management becoming easier, more accurate and effective. This is something important for me as with a total farm size of 30 heads, our cows can produce 90 tons of fresh quality milk yearly which we supply to FrieslandCampina.”

Advanced trainings

“In the past I did not know how to handle hoof care properly. This brought a lot of trouble for our cows and led to significant economic losses. That is why I was so happy to attend a hoof care training program. And ended up being certified as a professional hoof trimmer. Thanks to that, I provide hoof trimming service to dairy farms in my region but also to four other provinces. On average I cover about 20 farms per month. Thereby I earn an additional income. I certainly can say that I earn a very fair monthly income which allows me and my family to live well and to further invest in our business.”

Value for the local dairy community

“The presence of FrieslandCampina and the FDOV programme in the period between 2014 and 2020 gave a needed boost to the local dairy community. All activities as carried in this period truly transformed the dairy farming in Hà Nam. Farmers are now much more confident because they are provided with the necessary knowledge and skills in dairy farm’s operations and management. Many farms got expended and on average daily yield increased from 14.2 to 15.6 kg per cow.”

The FDOV programme gave a needed boost to the local dairy community

Outlook for the future

“My family will certainly continue with our dairy farming business. Knowing that we produce fresh quality milk which is further valorised in nutritious products for the people in Vietnam gives us a lot of satisfaction. I, myself, will also continue to provide professional hoof trimming services. Along with the companionship of FrieslandCampina, I am ambitious of expanding my service provision to many more provinces throughout the country. I am happy that by doing this job I can help dairy cows stay in good health.

*“Development of Sustainable Dairy Sector in Vietnam” is a project of FrieslandCampina Nederland BV, FrieslandCampina Vietnam, De Heus LLC, Wageningen UR, Bles Dairies and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands within the Facility for Sustainable Entrepreneurship and Food Security (FDOV).