The interaction highlighted opportunities for collaboration on White Revolution 2.0, productivity enhancement, digital innovation, and capacity building to support smallholder-led dairy systems

James Marc de Sousa-Shields, Country Programme Director, International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) India, and Meera Mishra, Country Coordinator, IFAD India, met Dr Meenesh Shah, Chairman, National Dairy Development Board (NDDB), along with senior NDDB officials at NDDB headquarters in Anand, to discuss opportunities for cooperation in strengthening smallholder-led, sustainable dairy systems.

The interaction focused on sharing experiences from India’s dairy sector and exploring areas of collaboration aligned with IFAD’s global mandate to support smallholder livelihoods and sustainable rural development. Dr Shah provided a comprehensive overview of India’s dairy ecosystem and outlined NDDB’s ongoing initiatives aimed at increasing productivity, expanding the organised sector, and improving farmer incomes.

Highlighting the vision of White Revolution 2.0, Dr Shah detailed NDDB’s efforts to enhance productivity across the value chain, including interventions in breeding, animal health, and nutrition. He also underscored the role of advanced technologies—such as genomic chips, sex-sorted semen, and other scientific innovations—alongside digital initiatives that have enabled widespread digitisation at the village and farmer level.

Dr Shah further spoke about NDDB’s work in developing the manure value chain, covering bio-fertilisers, diverse biogas models, and the formation of cooperatives to support these initiatives. He emphasised NDDB’s extensive training and capacity-building programmes at multiple levels and noted that India’s cooperative dairy model ensures that nearly 80 per cent of consumer spending reaches farmers, providing a stable and sustainable source of livelihood.

Emphasising that India’s dairy sector is predominantly smallholder-driven, Dr Shah stated that the Government of India and NDDB are keen to support countries with similar production systems in strengthening their dairy sectors. He extended NDDB’s support to IFAD across its programmes and initiatives.

The IFAD delegation expressed strong interest in exploring collaboration with NDDB, particularly in the areas of training, knowledge exchange, and capacity building. They appreciated the scale and depth of NDDB’s interventions and indicated a keen interest in developing closer institutional partnerships. As part of the visit, the delegation also toured Parikrama, NDDB’s experiential centre, to gain deeper insights into India’s dairy development journey.

The interaction underscores the growing convergence between national institutions and multilateral agencies in advancing inclusive, climate-resilient, and smallholder-focused dairy development models.