Moving past weather battered villages and brightly patterned tents, these herdsmen are protecting a centuries old tradition, but one that is becoming increasingly threatened by severe drought, rising poverty and rural to urban migration.

Implemented over a three year period, GAFSP’s investment in Tiviski Dairy is expected to deliver strong development impact across the dairy value chain in Mauritania. The joint investment will help meet robust domestic demand for dairy, position Tiviski as the market leader in fresh pasteurized milk, and create export potential for niche camel milk powder products.

Over 2,000 livestock herders from across the Mauritania Sahara, fifteen percent of whom are women, will supply milk to Tiviski through this new investment. The company, which has a milk collection capacity of 42,000 liters per day, has two collection centers in the cities of Rosso and Boghe.

In turn, the company will generate an additional 200 jobs through the expansion, and help ensure food safety through the provision of pasteurized milk. Before Tiviski started operation, fresh milk was not marketed at all in Mauritania, save for a few thousand liters sold raw by herders, who lived near the cities, or to small-scale milk retailers.

HOW DOES CLIMATE CHANGE AFFECT THE LIFE OF PASTORALISTS IN THE SAHEL?

Dubbed the ‘ground zero’ for climate change, life in the Sahel is rapidly drying up as pastoralists compete amongst each other for dwindling water, vegetation and pasture.

For centuries, nomads across the Sahel—which borders parts of Chad, Senegal, Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, among others—have moved hundreds of miles to find pasture to feed their herds. But in recent decades, a string of severe droughts has led to severe impoverishment and food insecurity among these nomadic communities. Dwindling water has led to the widespread death of cattle, stillbirths of calves and reduced milk production.

Already on the margins of society, climate change presents a particularly acute threat to life for pastoralists. Incidents of land conflict are on the rise as the nomads cross more borders on the search for pasture and water. Thanks to GAFSP’s investment in Tiviski Dairy, some of the hardships imposed by climate change on the pastoralist community in Mauritania will be eased through their ability to increase income through direct sales to the company.

$9.5 million investment

will help Tiviski expand production.

2,000 livestock herders

will supply milk to Tiviski.