Milk-and-Dairy-Products-in-Human-Nutrition-FAO

Chapter 8 – Dairy-industry development programmes: Their role in food [...] 315
is critically important for increasing yields in crop agriculture (A. Rota, personal
communication, 2012).
Demand for milk and dairy products has grown significantly in many Asian
countries, partly because of population growth but also because people are spending
more disposable income on livestock products. Demand for milk in developing
countries is increasing fast: Delgado et al. (1999) estimated that milk consumption in
the Asia–Pacific region would double to 231 billion litres of liquid milk equivalent
(LME) by 2020, but it actually reached 240 billion litres LME by 2007 (see also
Chapter 2). With such high projected demand there will be significant opportunities
for small- and medium-scale producers. Regional imports from Australia, New Zealand
and North America via brokers such as Fonterra may also increase by about
30 percent, but Asian–Pacific smallholders could meet as much as 70 percent of
demand if there are improvements in market channels and the institutional set-up to
ensure smallholders are included in the value chain. Thus, smallholders can improve
their countries’ trade balances, even before they export (FAO, 2009a). Large-scale
global investment in dairying is also on the rise, fuelled by the high international
price for milk commodities in recent years. Large-scale and intensive dairying can
produce milk very efficiently but there are some environmental concerns regarding
concentrated resource use and waste generation (see also Chapter 2).
Dairying in developing regions has been studied by FAO, the European Union
(EU), the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), the United Nations
Development Programme (UNDP), World Bank and bilateral donors for decades.
A World Bank study concluded that most countries in sub-Saharan Africa (accounting
for about 75 percent of the region’s population) could become self sufficient in
milk (Walshe et al., 1991). The Strategy and Investment Plan for Smallholder Dairy
Development in Asia (2009–2018) (FAO, 2008) was developed through a participatory
process involving public and private sectors in 18 countries, and focuses on
increasing milk production and improving nutrition; the first objective of the tenyear,
US$250 million investment plan is “a glass of Asian milk per day for every
Asian child” (Dugdill and Morgan, 2008).
Dairy production systems vary across agro-ecological zones. Feed is the largest
input and cost in most systems, more so when labour involved in producing the
feed is factored in. In addition to grazing and fodder crops, feed rations are commonly
augmented with crop residues and industrial by-products, such as molasses,
wastes from breweries and flour mills, oilseed cake, fruit pulp and vegetable waste
(Henriksen, 2009).
About 85 percent of smallholders milk cows. But people of different cultures
milk other animals, ranging from larger animals (cattle, buffalos, yaks, camels, llamas,
alpaca, horses, donkeys, reindeer) to small, less costly ruminants (goats, sheep). There
is a dearth of peer-reviewed international literature on the role and contribution of
other species in meeting the needs of a growing human population. Field observations
from a number of partners in developing countries do, however, indicate that their
impact on both household food security and poverty alleviation is very significant.
There are thousands of unique, nutritious, traditional dairy products around the
developing world whose main function is to preserve milk surpluses for consumption
in the winter or during the dry season. A few cultures use dairy products for
cosmetics, e.g. in Eritrea (likay from cow’s blood and milk) and Ethiopia (butter).