DUSHANBE, September 17, 2008, Asia-Plus  -- IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, through the SIDA-funded Southern Tajikistan Agribusiness Supply Chains Development Project last week conducted a series of seminars on the keeping of milk records in the villages of Haydarobod and Tilloi Safed in the Vahdat District of Tajikistan, press release issued by the IFC Dushanbe Office said.

The purpose of the seminars was to improve the ability of local dairy farms to keep accurate records of their milk production in order to enable them to better calculate the level of profitability of their dairy production. Approximately 50 participants, primarily women from household farms, took part in the seminars.

IFC experts explained to participants how to introduce a simple record keeping system as well as what information should be recorded. “In order to run their businesses more successfully, it is vital for Tajikistan’s household dairy farmers to improve their record keeping methods. I hope this series of seminars will help these farms in becoming more profitable,” said Rangina Nazrieva, IFC Business Development Specialist.

“The seminar was very useful because it is necessary for us to know the essential principles of record keeping in order to be able to calculate the profitability of milk production. This is really important for us since at present the price of fodder and other concentrates is quite high at local markets, and we need to make sure that milk production remains profitable,” said Mijgona Gulova, a seminar participant.

IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, fosters sustainable economic growth in developing countries by financing private sector investment, mobilizing private capital in local and international financial markets, and providing advisory and risk mitigation services to businesses and governments. IFC’s vision is that people should have the opportunity to escape poverty and improve their lives. In FY07, IFC committed $8.2 billion and mobilized an additional $3.9 billion through syndications and structured finance for 299 investments in 69 developing countries. IFC also provided advisory services in 97 countries.

The Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) is a government agency that reports to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Sweden. SIDA is responsible for most contributions of Sweden to international development work with the goal to improve the standard of living of poor people and eradicate poverty.