Lanka’s development succeeds only if livelihoods of the villagers are fulfilled-Ranjit Page
While local dairy farmers in the villages produce milk that account for 40 per cent of the total milk production in Sri Lanka, not much revenue earned from the production reaches the farmers. Sri Lanka’s milk production and efficiency has to increase to compete with global dairy brands. Without developing the livelihoods of the villagers who produce the milk, a country cannot be developed, says Ranjit Page, Deputy Chairman/CEO of Cargills (Ceylon) PLC.
Last Thursday, Kotmale launched its new brand campaign titled, ‘Nourishing our Nation’ at the Kingsbury Hotel in Colombo. Mr. Page made the above remarks during the event.
Mr. Ranjit Page (left) unveiling the new product. Pic by Indika Handuwala.
He said, “Not much funds reach the local dairy farmers who produce the milk. Revenue for the people in the villages must be increased not just with milk, but to establish more dairy farms. Without developing the villages, we cannot develop the country. It is the people in the villages that bring revenue from abroad to Sri Lanka. To compete with global dairy brands, we have to increase productivity and efficiency.”
Highlighting a report from the World Health Programme, he mentioned that 200 ml of milk is required per person every day. “Our children in the rural areas do not receive 200 ml of milk per day. We have very poor kids in the country, who cannot afford to buy 200 ml of milk. To reduce the cost to the consumer on the other hand, more milk production has to take place,” noted Mr. Page.
Cargills (Ceylon) PLC, Managing Director – Dairy Sector, Saranga Wijesundara in his presentation highlighted, the campaign ‘Nourish our Nation’ reflects Kotmale’s deeper purpose, to nourish people, empower communities, care for the environment and contribute to a stronger more self-sufficient Sri Lanka. “About 90 per cent of milk produced in Sri Lanka comes from smallholder dairy farmers. Kotmale is the largest local dairy company in Sri Lanka in terms of volume of milk and range of products. We source approximately 180,000 litres of fresh milk daily from over 17,000 smallholder dairy
farmers, making it the largest collector of fresh milk in Sri Lanka. Rs. 13.2 billion is paid to the dairy farmers per annum for the fresh milk collected,” added Mr. Wijesundara.
Kotmale operates three ISO-certified dairy processing facilities that meet the highest quality and food safety standards. Since 2010, the company has made significant investments in modern technology to upgrade its facilities and systems, continuously improving product quality and aligning operations with best-in-class benchmarks.
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