Time frame: Jan 2016 – Dec 2019
Currently closed

Budget: EUR 12 million

In 2016, the Yoba for Life Foundation became a partner in the Inclusive Dairy Enterprise (TIDE I) project. The Inclusive Dairy Enterprise (TIDE) project is a four year dairy project in Southwestern Uganda, funded by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and implemented by SNV.

Under TIDE I the Yoba for Life foundation implemented activities around the small- and medium scale production of probiotic yoghurt in Southwest Uganda. In the second half of the TIDE I project, the Yoba for Life foundation focused  on the introduction of  probiotic yoghurt in pre-primary schools. During TIDE I, the Yoba yoghurt production raised from 12 producers making 1,500 litres per week, to 41 producers making a nearly a total of 14,000 litres per week in the seven TIDE districts. The total number of children on the school yoghurt program at the closure of TIDE I included  23,500 children in 151 Schools.

School yoghurt program

In the school yoghurt program, children in pre-primary and primary schools consume probiotic yoghurt through a commercially sustainable model, whereby the parents bear the cost of the yoghurt through an increase of the school fees. The program helps to improve the health of young children who commonly suffer from incidences of diarrhea, respiratory tract infections, skin rashes, and retarded growth. In 2020 Dr. Nieke Westerik completed Ph.D. thesis at the Vrije Universtiteit Amsterdam, including two effect studies on the impact of consumption of Yoba yoghurt on the development of school-going children.

Yoba field officers visit every week new schools to convince the school management and subsequently the parents to introduce the Yoba yoghurt program at their schools with the aim to support the development of the children. Between February 2018 and December 2019, parents of 23,500 children agreed to participate in the program and let the children enjoy the health benefits of regular consumption of the probiotic Yoba yoghurt

Apart from the health benefits, the program increases the market for small scale producers of probiotic Yoba yoghurt, hence increasing employment opportunities and household income.