With meat and milk being perishable goods, innovation in the cold chain and sustainable energy supplies will help strengthen the sector. For example, an East African initiative which centralised milk quality testing and storage in chillers prior to sale increased yields sixfold within five years.

The volume of milk supplied to the 30km catchment area rose to three million litres a month. This increased income per smallholder household by more than 160 percent in Uganda, 120 percent in Kenya, and almost 65 percent in Rwanda.

The success of such projects in turn drives demand for continued innovation, such as solar-powered cold chains or interventions that protect other resources like water and grasslands.

Read more: The Citizen