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

Chapter 9 – Human nutrition and dairy development: Trends and issues 365
Chapters 2 and 8 point to local differences in species milked and the way in which
milk is valued, consumed and processed by different cultures, and to great pride
in national specialities. All of these factors suggest that dairying can be seen as a
strongly local business, with most of the product consumed in a country being
produced in that country.
To some extent the notion of localness is accurate. Locally produced dairy
products are consumed in countries all over the world and, as Chapter 8 points out,
public-sector funds have been invested with the goal of making Africa and Asia selfsufficient
in milk. The catchy slogan “a glass of Asian milk a day for every Asian
child” highlights the objectives of the Asian dairy-development strategy developed
by senior regional stakeholders (Dugdill and Morgan, 2008). The Indian central
and state governments have for many years financed smallholder dairy production
through the National Dairy Development Board; since the liberalization of the market
there has also been investment from India’s domestic private sector, although
more than 80 percent of milk is still sold through informal channels (Punjab, 2009).
China, too, has used government investment to stimulate local private industry in
Hebie and Heilongiang provinces and the autonomous region of Inner Mongolia
(Chapter 8). In Africa a number of small dairy projects, many of them initiated by
NGOs in support of small-scale production and marketing, have helped to supply
local populations with dairy products.
Notwithstanding important local differences, however, dairying is a global
industry in which several multinational companies have an interest. While most
strongly represented in the developed countries, multinational companies have also
invested in initiatives in South Asia and Africa with varying degrees of success,
Nestlé’s investment in Pakistan being one example. It is also the case that the overall
level of foreign direct investment in dairying is low, as it is for agriculture as a whole
(FAO, 2012b); multinationals have ventured into developing country markets with
caution. Processed dairy products, in particular milk powder, infant formula and
cheese, are widely traded. Not only did total world trade in dairy products increase
from US$20 billion in 1990 to US$64 billion in 2008, but over the same period
the value of trade per person increased from US$3.8 to US$8.4 (calculated from
FAOSTAT data). Figure 9.1 shows the percentage share of each of the main internationally
traded dairy products in total export value between 1990 and 2008. Cheese
and dried milk made up the bulk of export value, followed by butter and ghee (albeit
with the latter showing a declining market share). The majority of products came
from cow milk. These traded products supply a wide range of markets, with the
higher-value items going to wealthy consumers for direct consumption while milk
powder and the cheaper cheeses supply the baking and fast-food industries.
World milk prices and milk imports affect the functioning of domestic markets
in developing countries. As Chapter 2 points out, improvements in processing and
shipping technology, reduction in transport costs and times and the use of export
subsidies have promoted international trade in dairy products and encouraged its rise,
although to a lower level than meat. The European Union, once strongly criticised
for “dumping” milk powder on West African markets, has reduced its milk-powder
stocks and lowered subsidies. However, imports do not have to be incompatible
with domestic dairy-industry development – India and China both have growing
domestic industries and both import dried milk from the developed world.