TRAINING REPORT FOR THE GARISSA CAMEL MILK HANDLERS

A training Report on Group Leadership, Management and Introduction to Dairy Traders Association for the Garissa Milk

Marketing Groups

Commissioned by CARE Kenya under Enhanced Livelihoods in the Mandera Triangle (ELMT) Project

Report compiled by SITE

February 2010

Table of Contents

Page Number Executive Summary 2 Introduction 3 Course Outline 4 Training activities and recommendations 7 Recommendations and conclusions 12 Annexes 13

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Executive summary The small-scale individual entrepreneur can contribute significantly towards the competitiveness of their respective sub-sectors but only if they are organized into groups and their respective capacities strengthened. Only then can they approach markets and institutions collectively as well as be able to advocate and lobby for change within the sectors in which they operate. This is especially critical among small-scale dairy traders and producers who currently do not have an audible voice within the dairy/milk value chain. In November 2009, SITE partnered with CARE Kenya in an assignment aimed at helping camel milk marketing groups improve milk quality and explore better marketing channels for camel milk. In the assignment, we found that the milk marketing groups in Garissa were in clusters that needed to be strengthened in leadership and management aspects. The groups also expressed need to link up to the National Dairy Traders Association (DTA), an association formed through SITE’s initiative towards improving the livelihoods of small-scale milk traders. During the assignment, SITE trainers covered six topics aimed at helping the participants acquire skills in group leadership, group management, provision of services to group members, business skills, how to set up and run a successful milk bar/canteen as well as introducing the concept of self-organization. The Chairman of national DTA gave a talk to the participants detailing the benefits of associating and requirements for membership. SITE used one training team of two people during the workshop. The training took place in Garissa’s Agricultural Training Centre over a period of five days. Garissa is in Kenya’s North Eastern Province and borders Somalia to the East. A total of 30 leaders were trained in all the outlined topics. Language barrier presented a challenge because even if most of the participants could understand Kiswahili, some could not speak or answer in Kiswahili. However, CARE staff as well as the participants helped with the translation whenever necessary. Out of this training, it emerged that for the Garissa milk traders to benefit from joint action, they must work with other milk traders and stakeholders in the dairy sub-sector. This is only possible if their individual groups are strengthened in all group aspects. These include: leadership, group management, business management and service provision to their members. This must also apply to the umbrella bringing the various groups together. Equally important for the milk groups is the strengthening of their members’ businesses through increased market access. Establishment of individual or group milk bars is one way of increasing market access since it promotes direct milk consumption.

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SECTION I Introduction Care Kenya, along with the other partners of Enhanced Livelihoods in the Mandera Triangle (ELMT) Project; have been working with the pastoralist communities in Garissa and other districts in the Mandera Triangle in an effort to enhance their livelihoods. To achieve this, many interventions have been implemented. This training on group leadership and management as well as introducing the trained groups to the Dairy Traders Association (DTA) is a follow up to an earlier assignment done by SITE in November 2009 on training the camel milk handlers in Garissa on hygienic milk harvesting, handling, storage, transportation as well as basic business skills as an intervention under ELMT. The targeted participants under this training were the leaders in the camel milk marketing groups in Garissa town. Thirty participants were trained out of which 25 were women (83%) while only five (17%) were men. The leaders fell into two categories – leaders of the individual groups and leaders of an umbrella of the individual groups. Twenty six participants were leaders of individual groups while four were leaders of the umbrella. The main objective of the assignment was to strengthen the leadership and management of the groups. The groups were also to be encouraged to strengthen their umbrella before linking them to the DTA. The chairman of the national DTA was to talk to the leaders on the benefits of associating among themselves and with other milk traders in Kenya. Expected deliverables

i) A training report covering the training activities and recommendations on the way forward.

ii) A debriefing session after completion of the assignment

This report is divided into four parts, each part addressing a specific deliverable as follows: o Course outline o Training activities and recommendations o Recommendations and conclusions o Annexes

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SECTION II

Course Outline The Garissa camel milk marketing groups were trained on the following topics from 15th to 19th February 2010: • Group leadership • Management of groups • Provision of services to members • Business skills • How to start a milk canteen - requirements • Linkage to DTA- Benefits and requirements

1. Group Leadership

• Quality of good leaders • Roles and characteristics of

leadership • Relations of leaders with

members • Accountability and transparency • Communication • Leadership core values • Power and authority • Gender and leadership

2. Management of groups

• Management structures - Meaning

• Roles of office bearers • Operations • Elections • Organizational structure • Role of Management Committee

Members

• Role of government (Central and Local Governments Authority)

3. Provision of services to members

• Services to members • Role of dairy traders association • What constitutes a service to

members • Why provide services to

members • Types of services • Service identification for

members • Who provides in external service

provision • Role of group leaders in

management of services • Role of members in management

of services • Role of other sector players in the

management of services • Who pays for member services

4. Business skills

• Defining a business and distinguishing the different types of businesses • Characteristics of a micro-enterprise • What causes the success/failure of micro-enterprises?

• Reaching our customers

CARE KENYA/SITE FEB 2010

• The four Ps of marketing (Product, Price, Place, Promotion) • Importance of marketing

• Planning for our businesses • Defining a business plan • Developing a simple business plan

• Costing • What are costs? • Importance of costing • Costing in our milk businesses

• Record keeping • What is record keeping? • Why is record keeping necessary • Examples of some records you can keep

5. Milk canteen establishment The following conditions must be met for the establishment of a successful milk bar: • Location of the milk canteen • High quality milk • Facilities – water, drainage, power supply • Equipments at the milk canteen • Legal requirements – licenses and permits • Storage and preservation of milk and milk products 6. Linkage to Dairy Traders Association • DTA: who are they – Head office & branches • Objectives of DTA • Functions of DTA • Values of DTA • Activities of DTA • How do you become a member • Way forward for Garissa milk marketing groups

Training Report under ELMT compiled by SITE 5



Highlights on course outline

Course outline

1. Group leadership Who is a leader? Qualities of a good leader

Communication Leadership core values Power and authority Accountability and transparency Gender and leadership

2. Management of groups Management structure Role of office bearers Duties of leaders and members Group meetings, elections and conflict resolution

3. Business skills 4. Service provision to members 5. How to set up a milk bar 6. Introduction to the Dairy Traders Association (DTA)

i. Training methodology

Participatory training methods were used with emphasis on group discussions, plenary presentations, experience sharing and where possible role plays to make the training as learner centered as possible. The training was organized from 9.00 am to 3.00 pm to accommodate the trading schedules of the trainees. The participants were conversant with Kiswahili hence the trainers used it in their training instead of an interpreter. At the end of the training, an exit questionnaire was administered. The trainees also outlined practices they would adopt or change in the leadership and management of their milk groups based on the acquired knowledge and skills.

ii. Training aids

The following training aids were used: • Flip charts • Marker pens • Note books • Biro Pens • Illustrations/pictures


SECTION III

Training activities and recommendations

1. Training activities Training for the leaders took place in the Garissa’s Agricultural Training Centre (ATC) conference hall. A training attendance form was used to monitor attendance and is attached to this report as Annex I. The training took five days as follows: Day One: Introduction to objectives; Leadership in Groups The training began on Feb 15th 2010 at 9.00 am in the Garissa ATC conference hall. Two officials from CARE Kenya Garissa Office were present. The participants were taken through the objectives of the training. Leadership training was the first topic.

The module was handled through group discussions, plenary presentations and discussions. The discussions were very informing since the participants are leaders who were willing to share their experiences in group leadership. During the discussions, it emerged that the umbrella was initially made up of 31 groups. Due to leadership wrangles, some groups were forced out of the umbrella. Other groups like Sumeya chose to leave the umbrella out of their group principles.

A Group Discussion on Leadership/ Photo SITE

The current umbrella is made up of 18 milk groups out of the initial 31 groups. The main reasons for the conflict in the umbrella are: financial mismanagement, competition for leadership and clanism. Day Two: Group Management The participants were introduced to the four elements of group management: leadership, constitution, meetings and group records. The participants went into groups, discussed and then shared at the plenary. It emerged that the leaders were aware of their roles and responsibilities in group leadership. During the discussions, the leaders confirmed that the groups in the umbrella have constitutions and are fully registered by the Social services department. Unfortunately, most of the groups do not meet as often as required thus weakening them. The same is true for the umbrella.



Elections are normally done using the secret ballot. Elections for the umbrella were due on 20th Feb 2010 and the District Gender and Social Development Officer for Garissa came to the

training on 19th Feb to invite all groups for the elections. He and the DLPO Garissa want a representative leadership in the umbrella, to represent all the initial 31 milk groups, including Sumeya. The current leaders of the umbrella confirmed that they have not been keeping any records since the previous leadership was kicked out of office one year ago. CARE Garissa office will assist the new leadership to establish the necessary group records.

Group discussions on group management/Photo SITE

Day Three: Business skills for small-scale milk traders

The topic was intended to sharpen the business skills of the milk traders as they conduct their businesses.

The session was also approached through group discussions, plenary presentations and discussions. The participants understood what a small-scale business is and factors that lead to its success or failure. They also discussed and appreciated the importance of product marketing, planning for their businesses, determining the costs in their businesses as well as record keeping. They were taken through some basic milk records that should be kept daily by every milk trader. These are milk supplier records, milk sales records as well as expense records.

Presentation on types of businesses/ Photo SITE

Day Four: Service provision to members The participants were taken through the importance of service provision to members as a way of

improving their businesses and strengthening the groups. They sat in groups, discussed and presented on the kinds of services they currently offer to their members and the ones they hope to offer in future. They were also able to identify various service providers in Garissa and beyond. Group discussion on service provision



The services they identified included land for the camel mini dairy, markets outside Garissa for camel milk and more training for their members. They confirmed that power outages are very common in Garissa hence those traders who will install deep freezers when thy start milk bars may have to buy generators. They were able to identify several service providers including the government, the local council, private companies especially banks such as First Community and Equity bank as well as NGOs such as CARE Kenya. Day Five: How to set up and manage a group milk bar; Introduction to DTA

The participants were taken through the requirements and preparations for the set up of a milk bar. Most of them had visited the milk bars in Nairobi during their exposure visit in November 2009. It was therefore easy for them to remember what they saw and contribute to the discussions. The trainers had also carried pictures of a milk bar for the benefit of those who did not participate in the exposure visit.

At the end of the discussion, the participants expressed their interest to start milk bars. One lady, Shindez Sheikh Noor, is prepared to invest in her own milk bar while Sumeya milk traders have premises from where they are making yoghurt for sale. CARE Kenya Garissa team was impressed by the determination of this group and donated some milk equipment to them as motivation. It comprised of three 10-litre aluminium cans, three milk measuring pints, two plastic buckets, two milk sieves and the milk testing tool kit.

Sumeya milk group receive milk equipment/ Photo SITE

On the same day, the participants were introduced to the Dairy Traders Association (DTA) by the national Chairman, Sammy Chiira. He introduced to them the association, its head office,

branch offices, objectives, values and activities of DTA and how to become a member. The participants thanked the chairman for receiving them warmly when they visited the DTA national office during the exposure visit. He outlined the benefits of being a DTA member, key being unity of purpose for improved milk businesses. He invited the Garissa milk traders to join other milk traders in the DTA. The members expressed interest in joining and the leaders promised

to spearhead the process after consulting with the DLPO Garissa.

DTA Chairman and some Garissa umbrella leaders/Photo SITE

Evaluation of the training



A questionnaire was administered to the participants at the end of the training to obtain feedback from them. A sample of the evaluation questionnaire is attached to this report as Annex II. The analysis showed that:

• Eighty percent (80%) of the participants rated the presentation methods of the trainers as

very good, while 20% rated them good. • All the participants felt the time allocated for the training was enough. • Eighty percent (80 %) of the participants felt the training covered all the areas that were

important to them but 20% suggested we should have visited their individual groups and imparted the knowledge and skills to all group members.

• All the participants rated the training as relevant since all were leaders and felt they will be better leaders due to the training.

• Forty percent (40 %) of the participants rated the training on the set up of the milk bar as the most useful because it is unfamiliar in Garissa. They felt it would improve the quality of milk, increase incomes and create job opportunities. Twenty percent (20%) of the participants felt the topic on management was most useful because it stressed the importance of keeping accurate group records and conducting proper elections. Another 20% found leadership training very useful while the last 20% found all the topics useful to them.

• All the participants promised to put the gained knowledge and skills into practice especially in leadership, elections and communication with group members.

• Eighty percent (80%) of the participants felt the most important benefit to members if they joined DTA was networking which would enable sharing of ideas with other milk traders. Twenty percent (20%) felt they would be more aware of their rights in addition to access to other milk markets due to networking.

• On general comments, 40 % of the participants found the training useful and hoped for more in the near future. Twenty percent (20%) said the trainers were good and cooperative, 20% felt Garissa milk traders must associate with others or risk being left behind while 20 % did not give a general comment.

• The Care Kenya, Garissa team expressed satisfaction with the training by the SITE trainers. They requested SITE for training reference material for future follow-up and strengthening of the groups. Evaluation Highlights

• 80 % of the participants rated the training methods of SITE trainers as very good

while 20 % rated them as good • All participant felt the allocated training time was enough • All the milk traders rated the training as useful to their milk businesses • Setting up a milk bar was rated the most useful at 40 % while leadership,

management and all topics scored 20 % rating each • All participants promised to put the acquired knowledge into practice in the

leadership of their groups. • 80 % of the participants felt joining the DTA will be good for members so as to

network and expand their businesses.



Recommendations on training Follow-up training: the participants were very receptive of the training and showed genuine interest in all the topics. Care Kenya should take advantage of this interest to carry out frequent follow-up training to ensure emergence of strong groups and a sustainable Umbrella. Development of training modules: the CARE Kenya Garissa team expressed the wish to have training materials for easy follow-up and strengthening of the groups. SITE is finalizing on the training materials for building the capacity of groups. CARE Kenya may consider liaising with SITE for these training resources. BDS Market Approach: the current system of training at Care Kenya relies heavily on incentive to trainees so that they may attend the training. As a result, it is hard to determine the trainees who attend with the intention to improve their businesses. Care Kenya may need to introduce a hybrid system that screens the trainees to ensure those who attend are keen to acquire knowledge for transformation of their businesses. This can be done using the tracer survey. This will help the organization to reduce the unit cost of training while benefitting the real entrepreneurs to improve their businesses based on the acquired knowledge. This is in line with the Business Development Services (BDS) Market approach.



SECTION IV

Recommendations and conclusions

Organization of milk traders is important for joint action. The Garissa Camel milk traders’ umbrella has been in existence since 2007. However, it has not done much for the betterment of the milk traders’ businesses due to leadership wrangles that weaken it. If the umbrella is to be strong for traders’ joint action, the constituent groups must be strengthened first. The strength of both the groups and the Umbrella can only be secured through continous training on effective leadership and proper group management. During the workshop, the participants resolved to strengthen their groups through effective leadership and better management systems. This will include holding regular meetings, conducting open elections and keeping up-to-date records. We recommend that CARE Kenya Garissa team, in partnership with the Garissa DLPO, support the groups and the umbrellas towards this end. Once the Umbrella is strong enough, it will effectively represent the interests of the milk traders as well as network with other stakeholders for the improvement of their businesses. It is recommended that the Garissa Umbrella joins the Dairy Traders Association (DTA) for a greater voice on the issues that affect the small-scale milk traders in Kenya and Garissa in particular. One key issue affecting small-scale milk traders in Kenya is access to milk markets and Garissa milk traders are no exception. The traders must therefore focus on developing several milk marketing systems for greater market access. The set up of milk bars is one way of improving and expanding the informal milk market in addition to attaining the desirable milk quality standards by adhering to the set requirements for milk bars. The Sumeya milk group was found to be a unique case in Garissa. They already have premises, a deep freezer, aluminium cans and sufurias. They have a trained member on yoghurt making. They are then packaging it in plastic bottles for sale in Garissa town. This group should be encouraged and supported since its success will motivate other groups in Garissa to embrace milk bars and excel in their milk businesses. The umbrella of Garissa milk traders, with the help of Ministry of Livestock, Garissa office, has been looking forward to the set up of a Camel milk mini dairy for milk processing. Acquisition of land for its set up has been a challenge all along. However, venturing into the formal milk market calls for a feasibility study clearly establishing supply and demand constraints as well as appropriate interventions to ensure sustainability of the mini dairy. Ownership of the mini dairy also needs to be clearly thought through to forestall future wrangles on ownership and sharing of dividends.



SECTION V Annex I TRAINING ATTENDANCE FORM Training venue: ____________________________ Date: _____________ No. Name Gender

F/M

Contact (Tel) Group Name




Annex II END OF TRAINING EVALUATION QUESTIONNAIRE Location: ___________________________________________________________________ 1. How do you rate the trainer’s presentation methods?

1) Very good 2) good 3) fair 4) poor

2. Was the time allocated for the training enough? 1) Yes 2) No

If no, please give reasons; ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ 3. Suggest areas that you think are important but were not covered under this training

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

4. Was the training relevant to you?

1) Yes 2) No. Please comment; ________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ 5. What part of the training did you find most useful and why?

__________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________

6. How are you intending to apply what you have learnt? ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

7. As leaders, which is the main benefit to your members if they join DTA? 8. Other comments _____________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________

Documents

TRAINING REPORT FOR THE GARISSA CAMEL MILK HANDLERS