Yak Cheese Cottage Industry
Location: Zhongdian, China
Mission Statement
China Exploration and Research Society is a non-profit organisation founded by the Hong Kong explorer Wong How Man. The mission of CERS is to explore remote regions of China and neighbouring countries, conduct multi-disciplinary research, conserve nature and culture in a sensitive and equitable manner, and educate through dissemination of results in popular channels. The CERS group has a variety of projects all over China which range from environmental and endangered animal conservation projects to micro-enterprise training initiatives using traditional methods or local resources creating a means by which to empower the local community to preserve their culture and at the same time tackle poverty.
The yak is a livestock unique to the Tibetan plateau. It has many potential products with economic possibilities which are unexplored and under-utilized because of a lack of monetary funds or suitable information on production methods. As a response to this, CERS brought in US dairy experts to teach the techniques of yak cheese production in the town of Zhongdian, Yunnan province china. This training project is followed by cooperation with local families and foreign social enterprises who together create a product through cottage industry suitable for both Chinese and international markets.
"The spirit of exploration, exemplified by their innovative approach to answering the problems they encounter, permeates all aspects of the organization. It is this spirit, inherent to all mankind, which CERS seeks to perpetuate".
Activities of Organisation
In 2003, CERS initiated a project that aims to develop a yak cheese cottage industry for Tibetans in order to leverage the huge number of yaks with high-value yak products for the market. The aim of this project was to train local families to run a yak cheese production site utilising local resources whilst creating a business which can generate a reasonable income. The Tibetan traditional methods of cheese making are combined with internationally accepted hygienic procedures and locals are trained so that they can leave the training center and go on to set up their own site. The first yak cheese training facility was constructed behind the CERS center ten kilometers outside of Zhongdian also known as Shangri-La in Yunnan province china. With the help of professor Ranee May from the University of Wisconsin, River Falls, a local Tibetan family experimented with production of the first yak cheese. Today, the family is running their own factory in Langdu, close to where the training facility is.
Consensus Community Perspective
This Yak cheese production center encourages environmentally conscious and sustainable production methods. It utilises resources that are readily available to the local community which would otherwise go to waste, transforming them into a product that is marketable. The Zhongdian center provides training to the locals, which empowers them with the skills to then set up their own business. This center is not only an income generating opportunity and a means by which trained families can sustain themselves but also a site of cultural preservation. The yak cheese center represents the nomadic lifestyle of the indigenous population and at the same time is directed to support these very communities. Although the projects CERS undertakes are geographically located in China through dissemination of project information CERS hopes to set a new standard by which people all over the world can create similar socially responsible projects.
"This is a project which seeks to spread values of Himalayan Consensus of social responsibility and environmental awareness whilst preserving indigenous culture through compassionate capitalism."
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