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

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Milk and dairy products in human nutrition
nutrition or education initiatives with which it can work, and the long-term return
on investment may be greater. This particularly applies to programmes where the
main consumer group lives in urban areas. If there is no solid nutritional strategy on
which to build, the dairy sector may need to lead the way.
Some practical considerations include the following:
• Nutrition impact assessment should be built into the programme design. This
requires involving disciplines and institutions beyond agriculture to bring in
the skills and mandate to measure nutritional indicators.
• Elements aimed at changing consumption patterns should also be built into
the programme. Nutrition education is universally accepted to be important
in changing food habits. Direct provision of food can also kick-start changes
in diet. Processing that makes dairy products more appealing and convenient
helps them to compete with less nutritious foods (such as carbonated
soft drinks).
• Programmes must be realistic about the potential for improving nutrition
from the domestic dairy industry. For instance, Chapter 8 lists a number
of considerations for successful dairy-industry development, including the
availability of a suitable feed and forage base. If consumption is growing
rapidly and the dairy sector more slowly, imports may be necessary to meet
consumer needs.
The usual considerations for development projects would also apply, including
design that fits local needs and objectives, provides assurance of quality and builds
sustainability. There may be conflicts between the wish to develop the domestic
dairy industry, supporting the livelihood of domestic producers and processors,
and the wish to make milk available at low prices (which may more easily be done
from imports), or between an approach that is primarily food based through milk
compared with one based on micronutrient or food supplements.
9.3.3 Options for governments
Government has a strong role to play in any dairy-industry development programme,
particularly one that includes explicit nutritional objectives. Important
aspects of the government’s role include the following:
• Identification of national priorities. National needs in relation to consumption
and nutrition, support to small-scale vs large-scale production, public vs
private investment will all vary according to the country’s stage of economic
development, its natural and human resource base and the balance between
rural and urban populations. These priorities can only be set by national
governments, and greatly affect the scale and shape of investment in dairy and
nutrition. Governments that choose to protect or support the domestic dairy
industry may do so through investment in domestic supply chains, subsidies
on inputs, taxes on imports or incentives to export. They may choose to support
small-scale production and livelihoods, or to focus on “modernization”
of the industry, which implies scaling up and concentration.
• Identifying national nutritional challenges, promoting measurement of
nutritional status and providing dietary guidelines. If a strong national