HERAT CITY (SW) – A number of livestock farmers and dairy sellers in Herat are happy with the establishment of the trade union in this province and said it has helped establish facilities and receive information in the milk processing and marketing.
Mohammad Salim, one of the dairy sellers in Herat, says that this union will create harmony among dairy sellers and livestock farmers and will convey their problems with officials and institutions.
He adds: “The union provides many facilities. The fact that there are approximately 180 to 190 members of the union in Herat city, we are in harmony with each other.”
Asadullah Haqdoost, a dairy farmer in Herat, who currently has 40 cows and obtains 400 to 500 kilograms of milk daily, complaint about the lack of market and asked the government to provide him and other farmers with the opportunity to sell milk products.
He adds: “The problems that stand in our way now, is that we don’t have the market to sell milk. For example, one kilogram of milk costs us 25 to 30 afghanis, but we sell it to the market for 20 afghanis. We do not have a proper market. We ask the authorities to create a market for us so that we can transfer this milk to provinces like Kabul, Nimroz, and Badghis.”
Madam Danesh, who has been selling dairy products for 22 years, has demands from the dairy sellers’ union and says that this union should hold training workshops for women and provide them with the necessary tools for milk processing.
She adds: “Our request from the union is to cooperate with us in the workshops and other collaborations so that working women can come and see the workshops to increase their experience. Help us with the things we lack. We have a lot of shortages. If there is help, and most of it is in the workshop sector, so that the women who work can get work experience in this sector and be able to work.”
Meanwhile, livestock experts in Herat, while welcoming the establishment of the union, siad that the union can play a valuable role in coordinating the dairy sellers of the districts and the center of Herat with local officials.
On the other hand, Abdulrahim Osmani, the head of Herat Dairy Sellers Union, considers the union important and says that they want to provide milk processing facilities, proper market and health benefits for the dairy sellers of this province with the financial support by internal and foreign institutions.
He adds: “This union is established thanks to our unity. Secondly, all the projects that we get through the institutes are drawn and distributed to all members of the union, and another convenience that we have and to our fellow citizens in general, we have a weekly inspection that their products are controlled to be sanitary from the point of view of the union. Public health and livestock administration of Herat province should approve so that it will be easier for us to provide better products than important products to our fellow citizens.”
However, the officials of Herat’s Department of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock, say that now not only men, but many women in this province are also engaged in livestock farming and selling dairy products. They add that they are trying to deal with the problems of dairy sellers in this province through this union.
Pir Mohammad Halimi, head of Herat’s Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock, told Salam Watandar: “We are trying to create a vaccine to prevent various diseases, to create a market for dairy cows, a suitable market to sell their products, to create a standard laboratory for cattle farmers in Herat. Until the conditions are ensured, the Department of Agriculture is in service to cattlemen.
According to local officials, there are currently nearly 600 farms producing, processing and packing milk products in a traditional and standardized way in Herat, and 430 dairy shops with 45 women are operating.
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