Corporativo
08 sep 2025
We are working with the Red Cross to train workers from Mali and Senegal to ensure the continuity of livestock
Milking the Future, a programme carried out in conjunction with the Red Cross that trains immigrants to perform the tasks that take place on dairy farms throughout the region, specifically at six of the Cooperative’s partner farms, most of which are located in Dos Torres. The 13 participants all come from Mali or Senegal.
Aside from the training objective, this initiative also aims to help people from other countries to integrate into our society and meet our goal to ensure the continuity of livestock production by hiring qualified workers, which is one of the sector’s greatest requirements at this time.
The training programme will last for three weeks and is divided into two parts: theory and practical. The theory element will teach the participants about dairy farming and the particularities of the sector in the region of Los Pedroches, while also teaching them about the animals and their production and reproduction cycles. The practical part will be focused on the physical work itself and the participants in the programme will be directly involved in all the tasks that take place on this type of dairy farm on a daily basis, including feeding, milking and caring for the animals.
For our Livestock Production Director, Emilio de León, “‘Milking the Future’ is a strategic and exciting project, created in close collaboration with the Red Cross, which is such a renowned organisation. Through this initiative we aim to respond to the demands of our farmers, who need trained workers. It is also a way of getting people settled in a rural environment, incorporating and integrating those who have useful skills but have not yet found the right opportunity to make a livelihood from them”.
Rosa Alabanda, the provincial head of the Red Cross refugee programme in Cordoba, adds that “all these people come here in search of a future that their home countries cannot provide. And opportunities such as the ones offered by COVAP through this initiative are an important step towards finding this future”.
Aside from the training objective, this initiative also aims to help people from other countries to integrate into our society and meet our goal to ensure the continuity of livestock production by hiring qualified workers, which is one of the sector’s greatest requirements at this time.
The training programme will last for three weeks and is divided into two parts: theory and practical. The theory element will teach the participants about dairy farming and the particularities of the sector in the region of Los Pedroches, while also teaching them about the animals and their production and reproduction cycles. The practical part will be focused on the physical work itself and the participants in the programme will be directly involved in all the tasks that take place on this type of dairy farm on a daily basis, including feeding, milking and caring for the animals.
For our Livestock Production Director, Emilio de León, “‘Milking the Future’ is a strategic and exciting project, created in close collaboration with the Red Cross, which is such a renowned organisation. Through this initiative we aim to respond to the demands of our farmers, who need trained workers. It is also a way of getting people settled in a rural environment, incorporating and integrating those who have useful skills but have not yet found the right opportunity to make a livelihood from them”.
Rosa Alabanda, the provincial head of the Red Cross refugee programme in Cordoba, adds that “all these people come here in search of a future that their home countries cannot provide. And opportunities such as the ones offered by COVAP through this initiative are an important step towards finding this future”.
