FAO, EU build partnership with Iraqi dairy producers, empower women
Iraqi women attending the training organized by FAO and EU. Photo: UNAMI
Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) – The United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) announced on Monday that the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), in cooperation with the office of the Ministry of Agriculture in Nineveh governorate, and through the European Union (EU) funded project, held a four-day training on improving manufacture and marketing of traditional dairy products to support agricultural livelihoods of rural returnees and communities in Nineveh governorate.
According to a press statement issued by the UNAMI, 75 dairy producers participated including 50 women from Zummar district, Telkaif district, and the city of Mosul.
The training focused on the health aspects to process traditional dairy products with introducing new techniques on how to process different types of cheese required in the Iraqi market.
The women dairy producers also received training on the use of pasteurizer, how to follow the good milk hygiene standards and to ensure the hygiene of the device under the supervision of FAO Iraq’s International Livestock Value Chain Expert, Chedly Kayouli, according to the UNAMI statement.
“FAO is striving to establish a real partnership with the dairy producers and to empower them, which is a priority for the organization. This will help them to support their families’ income. It is necessary to activate the role of women milk producers in particular. These trainings seek to improve the capacity of the sector and to contribute to the national development in preserving local products and improving their quality,” says FAO Representative in Iraq, Salah El-Hajj Hassan, according to the statement.