Iveco donated a truck to the Slow Food Karrayyu Herders’ Camel Milk Presidium

28 Jul 2015 | English

Iveco – the CNH Industrial brand that designs, manufactures and sells a broad range of light, medium and heavy commercial vehicles, both for road transportation and for off road uses – supports the Slow Food Foundation for Biodiversity.

Iveco has chosen to donate a truck to the Slow Food Karrayyu Herders’ Camel Milk Presidium, a community of nomadic herders in the Fantalle district in Ethiopia’s Rift Valley.

The keys of the Leoncino, a truck well suited to pastoralists’ needs, were handed over on Saturday, July 25 on the premises of the Labata Fantalle Organization (LaFO) in Metahara, Ethiopia.

Labata Fantalle is a non-profit organization that aims to support Karrayyu pastoralists. Through the Presidium Slow Food collaborates with the NGO to safeguard Karrayyu culture through their emblematic product: camel milk. In particular, the Presidium supports 42 herders, united in a cooperative, and works on training them to better manage animal health and diet and to promote and improve the storage and transport of camel milk.

Roba Fantalle Jilo, coordinator of the LaFO, who manages the project with the Karrayyu Presidium warmly welcomed the news: “The Leoncino will aid in the improved marketing of the camel milk and therefore contribute to the aims of Slow Food and the Labata Fantalle Organization which involve safeguarding the traditional livelihoods of the Karrayyu indigenous people.”

Daniela Ropolo, Sustainability Development Initiative Manager at CNH Industrial commented: “With the contribution to this project, which is part of the sustainability initiatives that the brand Iveco is pursuing with commitment and in line with those of Industrial CNH, Iveco aims to improve the problem of mobility in these countries, an issue that afflicts the African continent. Communities do not have the adequate means of transport to take their products to the closest market, but the use of a vehicle will guarantee the autonomy to bring production closer to consumption.”

Around 60 people gathered for the celebration and the presentation of the gift. Roba Bulga, National Coordinator for Slow Food Projects in Ethiopia, together with Iveco representatives and other people from Slow Food, inaugurated the event. Then, the cooperation office of the local government, the Administrator of Fantalle District  and some community elders delivered speeches.

The Karrayyu-Oromo are one of the last remaining indigenous communities to maintain the pastoralist way of life and ancestral traditions. However, pastoral cultures like that of the Karrayyu herders face many challenges such as limited access to land, difficult climatic and environmental conditions, marginalization and a lack of access to education.

Ethiopia’s Karrayu herders will travel to Cheese 2015, the biennial international event dedicated to milk in all its shapes and forms to be held in Bra, Italy from Friday, September 18 to Monday, September 21, 2015.

At the event there will be a special stand dedicated to display Africa’s biodiversity. Here you will find soap handmade by the Karrayyu from camel milk and you will be able to meet other Slow Food Presidia and food communities from Kenya, South Africa, Cape Verde, São Tomé and Príncipe. The Karrayu herders will not be able to offer tastings of fresh camel milk for logistical reasons.

The Pokot, an ethnic group of herders native to Western Kenya, will offer some tastings of their traditional ash yogurt, a Slow Food Presidium. To make this yogurt milk is poured into long, narrow gourds, left to rest for at least three days and in the end mixed with ash from the wood of a local tree, the cromwo, known for its antiseptic properties.

From South Africa, there will be some producers from the South African Raw Milk Cheeses Presidium. Cheese 2015 will be an opportunity for these producers to inform international consumers about the benefits of cheese made from unpasteurized milk and the importance of South African artisanal cheesemaking.

At the African biodiversity stand you will be also able to discover Matured Goat Cheese from the Planalto de Bolona (Cape Verde). The methods used to raise animals and make cheese in this mountainous, dry and almost uninhabited area are examples of an impressive capacity to adapt to difficult environmental conditions. A last nucleus of shepherds is resisting in the Bolona highlands, also thanks to the local presence of Slow Food.

A delegation from Morocco will bring the Jben of Chefchaouen, a traditional goat cheese, which is on the Slow Food Ark of Taste.

Last but not least, a section of the stand will be dedicated to São Tomé and Príncipe Robusta Coffee Presidium, which involves 12 families from São Nicolau and eight communities of producers in the southeast, the poorest part of the island, for a total of 150 producers.

Cheese 2015 has been made possible by the support of companies who believe in the future of the quality dairy sector, including the Official Partners: Consorzio Parmigiano Reggiano, Lurisia, Pastificio Di Martino and Radeberger Gruppe Italia.

 

Cheese, the international biennial event organized by the City of Bra and Slow Food, will be held in Bra, Italy, from Friday, September 18 to Monday, September 21, 2015. Dedicated to milk in all its shapes and forms, the event has led to the formation of an international network of cheesemakers and dairy artisans, and is currently in its tenth edition.

For further information, please contact the Slow Food International Press Office:

Paola Nano, +39 329 8321285, [email protected]

Città di Bra: Raffaele Grillo – Elena Martini, +39 0172 438278, [email protected]
www.slowfood.com –  www.comune.bra.cn.it

Slow Food involves millions of people who follow the philosophy of good, clean and fair food. The network is made up of enthusiasts, chefs, experts, young people, food producers, fishers and academics in over 150 countries. It includes 100,000 Slow Food members worldwide, who belong to 1,500 local chapters. Their membership fee helps to fund the association, and they participate in many locally organized events. The network also includes the 2,000 Terra Madre food communities, who are committed to sustainable, small-scale food production.

 

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