FrieslandCampina, Rabobank boost dairy farming in Indonesia and Viet Nam

FrieslandCampina and Rabobank will aid dairy farming in Indonesia and Vietnam by providing knowledge and expertise and affordable finance, Royal FrieslandCampina CEO Cees ’t Hart said during the formal opening of the FrieslandCampina Innovation Centre in Wageningen by Her Majesty Queen Máxima of the Netherlands.

The loans will be used to purchase cows, improve conditions in barns and fund biogas units. FrieslandCampina will buy the milk that is produced. The interest and loan repayments are deducted from the price paid for the milk, enabling the farmers to repay the loans in gradual stages. Local farmers are also given training to increase their milk yield and improve its quality.

According to Rabobank CEO Piet Moerland,“Through the Rabobank Foundation and Rabo Development, we give farmers in developing countries access to financing. A partnership with FrieslandCampina is of immense added value for dairy farming in both Indonesia and Vietnam.”

The projects are connected with the Sustainable Business Facility and Food Security Programme (FDOV). FrieslandCampina is part of this programme in the context of its Dairy Development Programme.  According to the milk company, the new programme will involve some 22 million euros of which it will provide 20 million.