Dairy Co-operatives in Nepal

FAO Nepal

History of dairy cooperatives dates back to the First Five Year Plan (1956-61) when the dairy cooperatives were formed in Tusal Village of Kavre district. However, the dairy cooperatives were became more effective only after December 1981, when DDC initiated the milk producers oriented program by encouraging the farmers to form their own Milk Producers’ Associations (MPAs) along the lines of cooperative principles. The MPAs operated under the by-laws prepared by DDC. The MPAs had no formal legal status and they operated as single purpose primary cooperatives with milk trade and support to milk production as their main activities.

In order to enable the MPAs with the formal legal identity and to make them more autonomous, DDC took initiation to convert these MPAs into Milk Producers’ Cooperative Society (MPCS) in February 1989. For this, it encouraged and facilitated to register these MPAs in the Cooperative Office of Government of Nepal (GoN). According to the available information, presently about 1,603 MPCSs are registered in 53 districts of the country. The Cooperative Act, 1992 of the government governs these MPCS. [Continue reading at ftp://ftp.fao.org/osd/CPF/Country%20NMTP… ]