A landmark six-year regional programme targeting sustainable dairy production across East Africa is now operational, bringing together $150 million in climate finance alongside broader investment to reshape farming practices and reduce greenhouse gas emissions while strengthening food security for millions of rural households.
The Dairy Interventions for Mitigation and Adaptation (DaIMA) programme, led by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) with co-financing from the Green Climate Fund (GCF), represents a total investment of $358 million deployed across Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda. The initiative was presented at the recently concluded 9th International Greenhouse Gas and Animal Agriculture conference in Nairobi, where agricultural experts gathered to discuss climate solutions within livestock systems.
The programme will directly benefit approximately 2.5 million rural people involved in dairy production while creating indirect economic spillovers reaching an estimated 15.4 million individuals throughout the dairy value chain. East Africa’s dairy sector remains foundational to regional food security and rural livelihoods, though it faces escalating pressures from climate variability including intense heat stress and prolonged drought cycles that threaten productivity and farmer incomes.
DaIMA addresses these challenges through a comprehensive approach that equips smallholder farmers with climate-adapted technologies, improved livestock breeding techniques, enhanced veterinary services, and better feed management systems. The programme emphasises strengthening extension services that connect farmers with practical agricultural knowledge while introducing climate information systems enabling producers to make informed decisions about planting, grazing and water management.
The initiative operates through four existing IFAD projects already embedded within national agricultural frameworks across the target countries. These aligned programmes strengthen institutional capacity and policy environments while deploying climate-responsive practices including improved feed and fodder production systems, manure management innovations, and rangeland restoration efforts. The programme aims to restore nearly 180,000 hectares of degraded rangeland and support productivity improvements across more than two million dairy cattle.
Sara Mbago, Regional Director for East and Southern Africa at IFAD, described the programme as fundamentally transformative. “By combining innovation, investment and policy reform, we are helping farmers adapt to a changing climate while reducing emissions and creating opportunities for growth,” Mbago stated. The programme’s projected outcomes include boosting milk production by 34 percent while reducing emissions by 2.1 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent over two decades.
A dedicated Green Dairy Financing Facility represents an innovation within the programme structure, specifically designed to unlock climate finance for smallholder farmers, producer cooperatives and small to medium-sized agricultural enterprises. This financing mechanism accelerates transitions toward low-emission value chain practices by reducing capital barriers that typically prevent adoption of productivity-enhancing technologies among resource-constrained producers.
The coalition supporting DaIMA includes IFAD, GCF, the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), the FAO Investment Centre, the Global Methane Hub, the Global Dairy Platform and USAID Food and Agriculture. The collaboration emphasises inclusive participation, ensuring women, youth and marginalised communities remain centred within climate action efforts while capturing equitable shares of programme benefits and opportunities.
The International Livestock Research Institute contributes technical expertise through its Mazingira Centre of Excellence, providing monitoring, reporting and verification services for greenhouse gas emissions across the four countries. ILRI Director General Appolinaire Djikeng characterised the programme as a significant milestone, noting, “By scaling up low-emission, climate-resilient solutions, DaIMA directly supports the implementation of the Paris Agreement, accelerating the sustainable transformation of the dairy sector in the region.”
The programme reflects broader global urgency around agricultural climate action as developing economies balance food production expansion with climate commitment obligations. East Africa’s dairy sector represents an important test case for demonstrating how climate finance, technology transfer and institutional reform can align agricultural productivity with emissions reduction objectives.
