Transforming the dairy industry and empowering women in Bangladesh

Arla’s history in Bangladesh goes all the way back to the 1960’s, when we started selling powdered milk in the country. But selling products is by no means our only focus in the country.

Sadly, malnutrition is still widespread in Bangladesh, and part of the reason is that there’s limited access to affordable nutrition – especially in rural areas. We believe dairy can be a part of the solution.

The dairy industry can also play a part in helping more women enter the labour market. In 2022, the employment rate of Bangladeshi women was less than 40 per cent, but the Pushti Ambassador Partnership, which you can read more about below, is an example of how the dairy industry can help women generate an income for themselves.

Empowering women to make a living and bringing nutrition to rural areas

There is great potential for more Bangladeshi women to enter the labour market – for Bangladesh’s economy as well as for the relatively many women who currently don’t work. In a partnership with Bopinc, a global expert on distributing to low-income consumers in rural areas, we created the Pushti Ambassador Partnership to show that potential.

In a country where malnutrition is prevalent, a new squad of determined female microentrepreneurs - Arla’s Pushti Ambassadors - are partnering up to help. They are working hard in their shops to give access to affordable dairy nutrition to families in rural parts of the country with Dano® Daily Pushti milk-powder sachets. While inspiring people to have more nutritious food habits, these Pushti Ambassadors are also securing a better income that helps lift them out of poverty.

The partnership leverages Arla Bangladesh’s existing distribution network and builds on Bopinc’s extensive expertise within distributing food and other types of products to those who need them.

Empowering women to make a living and bringing nutrition to rural areas

Taking steps to reduce packaging waste

A lot of the milk powder we sell in Bangladesh is packed in small sachets, which is a very common type of packaging in Bangladesh. Typically, the sachets are made from a mix of plastic and aluminium.

Unfortunately, many of these packaging types currently aren’t recyclable because of poor infrastructure. Instead, the packaging is either sent for incineration or dumped in overflowing landfills, which naturally isn’t sustainable.

To do something about that we’ve introduced a simplified sachet and partnered up with Bopinc, our partners from the Pushti Ambassador Partnership, and our packaging partner ARBAB to pilot a recycling system. The aim is to create a proof of concept for an integrated waste recycling system for our milk powder sachets. Ultimately, the goal is that the system can be replicated and scaled in Bangladesh and beyond.

Inspiring Bangladeshi farmers

Like many of the European countries where our farmer owners are from, Bangladesh has a long dairy farming tradition. One of the major differences between dairy farming in Europe and Bangladesh, is that the farmers’ average amount of cows is much lower in Bangladesh, the milk yield is low, and the profitability is limited. It’s not uncommon to have fewer than 10 cows.

Being part of the Bangladeshi dairy industry since the 1960’s, we are committed to sharing our knowledge with these smallholder farmers and contribute to developing the industry in general.

Supported by Danida, we have created a partnership with the Bangladesh branch of Solidaridad, PRAN, the Bangladeshi dairy expert network, IRDN, SEGES Innovation and the Danish Agricultural and Food Council. The project “Green Dairy Partnership in Bangladesh – creating a sustainable and productive dairy value chain mode in South West Bangladesh” aims to showcase a visionary model to transform the sector. Changing dairy farm practices will not only increase the farmers milk yield and profitability, but also reduce the emissions per kilo milk produced.

Transforming the dairy industry and empowering women in Bangladesh

Empowering women to make a living and bringing nutrition to rural areas

Taking steps to reduce packaging waste

Inspiring Bangladeshi farmers

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