The Green Dairy Partnership Project, supported by Danida Green Business Partnership (DGBP) under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark, has launched ‘Pushti Kothha’, an awareness initiative focused on safe milk production and consumption.
The event took place on Thursday at Bharat Bhaina High School at Keshabpur in Jashore, bringing together farmers, students, women entrepreneurs, youth, community leaders and government officials to strengthen knowledge and practices for clean, hygienic milk from farm to table.
Administered by Solidaridad Network Asia, the project features PRAN Dairy, Arla Foods, IDRN-Bangladesh Agricultural University, SEGES Innovation and Danish Agriculture & Food Council as key partners.
The Green Dairy Partnership aims to build a green, safe and commercially sustainable dairy sector in Bangladesh, targeting a 30% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and improved incomes for 10,000 farmers, with potential to scale to 50,000 households.
This initiative also emphasizes dairy nutrition security, particularly for children, and promotes community-wide responsibility for food safety.
The project consortium has adapted “Pushti Kothha” for the ground level participants with inspiration from Arla’s global initiative “Food Movers” adding to the recent initiatives by Pran Dairy on highlighting the importance of safe milk.
Additionally, Solidaridad has been promoting safe milk production and consumption in Bangladesh since 2013 through a market-based approach. Its strategy transforms the smallholder dairy sector by combining behavior change, value chain development, and sustainability, encouraging nutrient-rich diets like milk and improving health outcomes and gender relations.
The event was attended by Rexona Khatun Upazilla Nirbahi Officer, Keshabpur; Dr. Md. Golam Haider, Divisional Director, Department of Livestock Services, Khulna; Dr. Md. Siddikur Rahman, District Livestock Officer, Jashore; Md. Mahafuzul Hossain, District Education Officer, Jashore; Shiekh Feroj Ahmed Upazilla Secondary Education Officer, Keshabpur; Abdur Rahman, District Food Safety Officer, Jashore; Laurent Ponty, Managing Director, Arla Foods Bangladesh; Maksudur Rahman, Chief Operating Officer, PRAN-Dairy, and Md. Moziball Hoque, Head of Supply Chain, Solidaridad along with senior officials from Arla and Pran.
More than 600 students and teachers joined the event while key stakeholders addressed the gathering. They took part in interactive learning sessions, hands-on demonstrations and youth-friendly activities that explained why clean and safe milk is important for health.
The session was conducted by Dr. Md. Shimul Islam, Associate Professor, Department of Food and Nutrition Technology, Jashore University of Science and Technology.
Each participant received a brochure with simple, step-by-step guidance on hygiene, boiling milk safely, storing milk at home, and preventing contamination. They also received an interactive ludo board which came in with instructions on safe food practices. Both the toolkits were inspired and guided by Bangladesh Food Safety Authority.
The participants also received dairy products as an encouragement to the healthy habit of drinking milk.
The Green Dairy Partnership integrates European expertise under the Arla BIG FIVE concept, focusing on feed efficiency, animal robustness, manure handling, and land use.
These measures are expected to significantly reduce emissions while improving productivity and farmer livelihoods.
