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RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHINGTON DC
RUEHC/USAID WASHDC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHMFISS/JOINT STAFF WASHINGTON DC
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHINGTON DC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC
RUMICEA/USCENTCOM INTEL CEN MACDILL AFB FL
RUEHLH/AMCONSUL LAHORE 5316

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 LAHORE 000177 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON EAGR EAID ECIN EINV ETRD PGOV PREL PK
SUBJECT: U.S. DAIRY IN PUNJAB: A $34 MILLION SUCCESS STORY 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary:   Sweetwater International's Punjab dairy 
operation demonstrates how private business can lead economic 
development in Pakistan without government assistance.   The 
firm's methods might provide a replicable model for modern milk 
production in the region.  Acting Principal Officer (A/PO) and 
Econoff observed Sweetwater's progress during an August 1 tour 
of an existing 100-animal model dairy farm in Lahore, and a 
1,000-head dairy under construction in Okara District.  Company 
officials said the enterprise represented a $34 million 
investment.  By applying scientific management to its entire 
production chain, Sweetwater representatives claimed the dairy 
can yield 50 lbs of milk per animal per day, two to three times 
the typical dairy averages in Pakistan.  The company's 
willingness to share best practices with others and invest 
heavily in human resources can make a lasting contribution to 
Punjab's agricultural development.  End Summary. 
 
- - - 
AHEAD OF THE HERD 
- - - 
 
¶2.  (SBU) Sweetwater International is a Utah-based company 
established to provide on-farm water and soil management 
systems.  In a March 31 meeting, Sweetwater Pakistan Country 
Manager Ahmed Iqbal Saeed told Econoff that the company had seen 
an opportunity to use its products to enhance dairy output by 
dramatically improving the quality of feed.  The firm decided to 
start with a demonstration farm of 100 animals to test methods, 
solve problems, and raise capital from local investors for a 
larger facility.  Even at 100 head, the model farm ranked among 
the largest modern cow dairies in the country. 
 
- - - 
"COWS ARE THE LAST THING YOU NEED IN A DAIRY" 
- - - 
 
¶3.  (U) Saeed explained that to achieve optimal milk production, 
one must carefully manage all the other inputs, from the 
nutrient content of the feed to a physical environment for cow 
comfort.  "Cows are the last thing you need in a dairy," he 
said.  As a pioneer in Pakistan's milk production industry, 
Sweetwater had to create domestic sources for most of its needs. 
 Whenever possible, the firm partnered with local vendors and 
helped them manufacture to sufficient standards.  Sweetwater 
transferred the technology of their own proprietary irrigation 
filtration pumps to fabricate them in country.  It built a small 
laboratory for testing water, soil, milk, and feed crops.  The 
company also designed a unique shed for cow comfort and waste 
management.  The only imported system in the dairy is the 
milking and chilling apparatus, which is from Swedish based 
DeLaval, which also provides maintenance. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Producing quality feed presented the biggest hurdle. 
Saeed admitted Sweetwater had not had a lot of success 
contracting that out. Sweetwater tried collaborating with local 
farmers who offered assurances of working in accordance with the 
company's specifications, but Saeed said, "the lab tells us they 
aren't."  In the end, the firm decided it needed to grow its own 
corn and sorghum, and make its own silage.  In doing so, it 
brought relatively advanced farming techniques to Punjab 
including furrow irrigation, specific measurements for the 
spacing of plants, and machinery for bagging silage and 
preparing pre-mixed feed - equipment that Sweetwater claims are 
the only ones of their kind in the country.  Sweetwater's 
approach dramatically reduced the consumption of water, improved 
crop yields and nutrient value, and enhanced soil quality.  No 
longer just a dairy, Sweetwater runs some of the most 
progressive cropland in the province. 
 
- - - 
INVESTING IN PEOPLE 
- - - 
 
¶5.  (U) "We want to treat our whole organization like we treat 
our cows: very carefully," said Sweetwater Chairman Franklin 
Johnson.  Because Pakistan's milk production industry is so 
fragmented, Sweetwater knew it would have to train all of its 
own workers for an industrial operation.  In 2006, with the 
 
LAHORE 00000177  002 OF 002 
 
 
model farm just getting started, Sweetwater initiated its own 
Dairy Management Seminar and internship program for animal 
scientists and business graduates.  Sweetwater offers jobs to 
those who complete the course, and prove capable of working on a 
farm.  The need for training went all the way down to the 
farmhands who work the animals and the crops.  Only a handful of 
full-time employees are foreigners, and they are tasked with 
training Pakistani hires for the future.  The dairy is capital 
intensive where it makes sense but labor is cheap in Punjab, so 
some activity that is automated in modern dairies, such as 
placing and removing milking cups on teats, is still done by 
hand. 
 
- - - 
FINALLY, THE COWS 
- - - 
 
¶6.  (SBU) The traditional milk animals of Pakistan are local cow 
breeds and the water buffalo.  The buffalo is well adapted to 
the climate but has limited production potential; moreover, as 
Johnson put it, "we don't know anything about buffalo dairy 
farming, so we stuck to what we know."  Sweetwater settled on a 
Holstein-Sahiwal cross, purchased locally.  The Sahiwal is a 
domestic breed acclimated to the Punjab heat, while the Holstein 
is famed for milk yield.  The cows are put on a careful diet 
well before preparing them for calving and lactation.  After 
successfully building a herd of 100 head for the model dairy, 
Sweetwater has now accumulated some 800 head for the larger 
dairy.  The model dairy manager said they have already achieved 
their target annualized average of 50 lbs of milk per animal per 
day, despite the challenge of keeping the cows comfortable in 
the Punjab heat and humidity.  Johnson and Saeed said that 
government dairy and livestock officials who visited the model 
farm refused to believe the production figures. 
 
- - - 
"WE ARE HERE FOR THE LONG HAUL" - NO NEED FOR GOVERNMENT 
- - - 
 
¶7.  (SBU) Sweetwater claimed that the firm and local investors 
will have contributed $34 million to the Punjab economy after 
completion of the 1,000 animal dairy.  Johnson argued that the 
investment made sense because "we are here for the long haul." 
He added that the company's Board of Directors was pleased with 
their progress.  Sweetwater has offered general training for 
dairy farmers, sometimes coordinated by the Small and Medium 
Enterprise Development Authority (SMEDA) Dairy and Livestock 
Sector division, but on the whole Saeed remarked that the firm 
prefers to "keep a low profile in Pakistan."  Sweetwater has 
little or no contact with federal or provincial officials 
responsible for the dairy industry.  Saeed and Johnson shrugged 
them off as not particularly helpful, and irrelevant to 
establishing a commercially competitive business. 
 
- - - 
COMMENT: PRIVATE SECTOR INVESTMENT LEADS THE WAY 
- - - 
 
¶8.  (SBU) Comment: Sweetwater's progress is indeed impressive, 
but it remains to be seen whether the firm's approach is viable 
on a larger scale.  Nevertheless, Sweetwater has already 
introduced better farming practices and enhanced the human 
capital of Lahore and Okara districts.  The firm has pioneered 
an important emerging industry, and made a meaningful 
contribution to Pakistan's agriculture sector.  Johnson proposed 
that their model farm could be the basis of a self-contained 
dairy kit to use as a rural development project, perhaps 
organized as a village cooperative, and deployed in Afghanistan 
or targeted districts in Pakistan.  Sweetwater was willing to 
share their techniques and technology with aid organizations, 
and to assist with on-site training.  This kind of strategic 
corporate social responsibility demonstrates the multiplier 
effect that successful private enterprise can have on overall 
development and poverty eradication efforts, and Sweetwater 
might be a valuable partner for future U.S. assistance programs 
in the region.  End Comment. 
CONROY