Nasinya Dairy Company

Nasinya, which means perfect in the Maasai language, is dedicated to empowering women and providing them with income-generating opportunities. 

Nasinya Dairy is a privately held company based in the Simanjiro District (Manyara region) in Tanzania. It processes raw milk collected from pastoralist farmers in remote areas in Simanjiro and Babati as well in the village of Kimotorok. This milk is then used to make cheeses, butter, yoghurt, and mtindi (fermented milk) – which are subsequently sold in hotels, local shops, and restaurants. 

 Since it was founded in 2014, Nasinya Dairy has focused on providing a market for the milk produced by pastoralists living in remote areas. Because milk collection is traditionally a female responsibility in Maasai communities, Nasinya Dairy creates economic opportunities, empowering women to generate income for their families. 

Given the pressure on pastoral communities to change their itinerant cattle husbandry practices, Nasinya Dairy is helping improve pastures in the Simanjiro and Babati districts, thus ensuring year-round sustainable milk production. 

Pledge impact 

Through the Zero Hunger Private Sector Pledge, Nasinya Dairy is supporting programmes that can provide new opportunities for farmers and youth. 

These programmes seek to improve pastures upon which indigenous communities rely to produce milk throughout the year. Because much of the land allocated to villages requires rehabilitation, measures are underway to clear the bush and plant feed for cattle, to use organic manure instead of chemical fertilizers, to plant seeds and to dig wells for water. 

Using land donated by the government, Nasinya Dairy is planning to construct a centre that can be used to store milk from the different villages in the Manyara region. The centre will also include a training area to support pastoralists who supply milk to Nasinya Dairy, enabling them to increase their milk production sustainably. 

In line with its focus on women’s empowerment, Nasinya Dairy aims to provide a dairy cow and two bulls to groups of 30 or more women. It will also provide courses on entrepreneurship for women and train Maasai women on producing fruits and vegetables in their homestead gardens. Finally, the company will also distribute seeds and equipment to 100 homes in the Manyara region.