Milking shed symbolizes international cooperation

Fabio Scarpello, Contributor, Bali

In the tiny east Balinese village of Delod-Yeh, a milking shed equipped with state-of-the-art European machinery to milk 12 cows is tangible proof of how international cooperation can work at a local level and change ordinary people's lives.

"Prior to the project, all the young people were leaving and the village was dying. The milking shed has not only provided jobs but it has also set an example. Now the young know that, if they want, they can make things happen here in the village and that they do not need to leave," village head I Nyoman Astawa told The Jakarta Post.

The impact of the project on the villagers' lives is no small deal. An estimated 20 percent of the 800 villagers are connected to the operation, which employs 20 full-time staff.

In addition to being clean, efficient, fully mechanized and well above the standards normally offered by Indonesia's milk industry, the operation has provided other means of revenue for local farmers who provide food for the cows.

It is also intended to be a cow-breeding and training center for members of the local agribusiness association.

A snapshot (see photo) that shows Pedro, a two-month-old black-and-white calf, being stroked by then EU ambassador Sabato Della Monica and Italian Ambassador Francesco Mario Greco, brings into the picture two of the other protagonists of this success story: The European Union and Italy.

Another partner is the village of Delod-Yeh, which welcomed the initiative and provided the land and building required for the project.

"The overall objective of the project is to contribute to the agricultural development of the island of Bali by transferring European technology and skills and creating local jobs and opportunities," said Della Monica on November 25.

On that date, like his Italian counterpart, Della Monica made the journey from Jakarta to the little village to officiate the "soft opening" of the milking shed, which, after having been financed through EU small project facilities for 11 months, is just about to go solo.

What will follow is a collaboration between the project and the Italian experts of the Valchiavenna Mountain Community, who have been involved since the beginning.

"The staff have been trained by the very best European experts and they are now ready to be self-sufficient," said a beaming Guido Beretta, the main man behind the project.

Guido, a literature and history professor, and jack-of-all- trades by choice, left Milan and the comfort of his life there nine years ago, moving to Bali on a permanent basis. Like his wife, Monica, a former bank clerk who joined him soon after, he has not looked back since.

"We started by producing coffee and then we moved to mozzarella -- the full-fat Italian cheese normally spread on pizzas," said Guido, adding that the difficulty in obtaining high-quality milk spurred him on to set up the stable.

"Bali does not produce milk but imports it from Java. The milk is medium- to low-quality, and due to the monopoly and transportation costs, it's overpriced," he said.

However, setting up the milking shed was not easy. Guido started working on the project in early 2003. In December of the same year he got the nod and funding from the EU, which got the ball rolling in February.

According to Guido, the most difficult aspect was to get the local administration to help. "In the beginning they seemed suspicious of foreigners," he said.

Another difficult task was to find out the family history of the cattle, essential in guaranteeing the quality of the milk that they would produce.

"Indonesia does not have a developed system to trace the genealogy of cows and it took us a long time and a lot of work to be sure that we had good, healthy animals," said Guido.

Notwithstanding the difficulties, the project has progressed and has become an integral part of village life.

Dances, speeches and the well-known Balinese hospitality were on display at the opening ceremony where, besides European diplomats, local authority representatives and heads of families were present.

It came down to Ambassador Greco to sum up the mood of the day when he said, "It is small projects like this that allow our countries to forge closer relationships and to understand each other better".

With a gamelan orchestra playing in the background it seemed that this small part of Europe, and of Italy in particular, had found its rightful place in a corner of the Island of the Gods.