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

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Milk and dairy products in human nutrition
tonnes of CO 2 -equivalent from “milk production, processing and transportation, as
well as the emissions from meat production from dairy-related culled and fattened
animals” – about 4 percent (2.7 percent milk alone) of total anthropogenic emissions
(FAO, 2010a). Growing and providing food does entail some environmental effects
and efforts are ongoing in the dairy sector to reduce the intensity of emissions
(FAO, 2010b). The IDF-led Global Dairy Agenda for Action on Climate Change
includes initiatives introducing best practices for reducing GHGs. The alliance
behind the Agenda includes IDF, FEPALE, the Strategic Agriculture Initiative
Platform, the International Federation of Agricultural Producers, the European
Dairy Association, the Eastern and Southern African Dairy Association and FAO.
8.10 Key findings
The following key findings and insights have emerged from this chapter:
• Dairy-industry development aimed at smallholders enhances development
opportunities for women and young rural people. Empowerment of women
has a significant effect on household nutrition outcomes, particularly children’s
health, well-being and development.
• There are huge opportunities for dairy-industry development as market
demand follows rising incomes, especially in emerging African and Asian
economies. Careful programme design can quickly bring nutritional benefits
to vulnerable children, especially pre-school children, and grow future
demand. Children are tomorrow’s consumers.
• Dairying generates more jobs and income per unit of land than do crops. Estimates
of up to one off-farm job for every 30 litres of milk collected, processed
and marketed are reported.
• Dairying is an important tool for sustainable rural development in many areas
and has lifted millions of rural people out of poverty. It provides more regular,
reliable income than other agricultural operations, particularly crops, but can
be riskier because of the longer-term investment required. Understanding of
risks and adoption of suitable risk-mitigation strategies are critical elements
of any DIDP.
• Informal marketing systems account for over 80 percent of milk marketed in
many developing countries and generate more jobs per unit volume than formal
processing and marketing of milk and dairy products. These systems will remain
important in value chains producing and delivering milk and dairy products to
low-income rural and urban communities for the foreseeable future.
• Programmes must help more smallholders shift from subsistence farming to
profitable, commercial dairying approaches. The private sector must be encouraged
to invest in smallholder milk production to ensure that smallholder farmers
obtain a fair share of the value and benefit of dairy-industry development.
• The private sector must be fully engaged in development and implementation
of dairy-industry development strategies at country level. Vertical coordination
in the milk value chain through producer organizations provides costeffective
access to inputs, services and markets.
• Successful dairy-industry development projects and programmes give high
priority to education and training and long-term investment in national
capacity building for sustainability.