Author Description

Review"An informative critique of India's government-sponsored milk cooperative movement....An interesting introduction to village life in India and Zimbabwe in addition to an analysis of dairy cooperatives."--ChoiceProduct DescriptionIndia's "Anand pattern" dairy co-operatives are widely used as a developmental model for dairy farming in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. However, they have been criticized for their limited benefits to the poorest members of society, their effects on rural women's work, and their use ofcapital-intensive imported technology. This book assesses the Kheda dairy co-operative in Gujarat that was the inspiration for the Anand pattern, and uses case studies from the Indian state of Kerala to question the current drive to replicate the Anand pattern. Shanti George also presents adiscussion of the successful Choryasi dairy co-operative that, unlike Kheda, uses intermediate technology, but has not been replicated or adopted as a model. He then shifts his focus to Africa, where the Dairy Development Programme has tried to learn from the Anand pattern and from its critics.George's study stresses the human factor in development planning, and argues that this must be considered when trying to devise optimally productive co-operatives.About the AuthorShanti George is currently attached to the Institute of Social Studies at The Hague.