Asia has witnessed remarkable growth in its production and consumption of milk and dairy products in recent years and this trend is almost certain to continue.
Indeed, the Asia-Pacific region has overtaken Europe as the world’s largest milk producer, with India alone producing one in every five glasses of milk.
This increased consumption of dairy products in Asia and the Pacific is playing a vital role in improving child nutrition and boosting the livelihoods of smallholder farmers across the region — as the latter are the source of production for the vast amount of milk and dairy products that we consume.
By the end of 2015, the Asia-Pacific region as a whole had achieved the Millennium Development Goal to reduce hunger and undernutrition by half in the past quarter century. Clearly, the increased consumption of dairy products in the region is one factor which has contributed to the overall success in improving nutrition, particularly among children.
Bangladesh runs a successful school milk pilot scheme implemented by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and it had made a difference in the overall well-being of the children who had received 200 ml of milk each school day.
School milk programmes
Other countries in the region, such as Thailand, have long-running national school milk programmes which have served as useful models in other countries. China, India, Japan and Vietnam also have experience with school milk programmes at various levels.
Milk is rich in minerals like calcium, magnesium and zinc, among others. The wide range of vitamins and amino acids present in milk are important building blocks for cells, bones, and muscles.
So as we work towards a world of zero hunger, milk and dairy products will continue to be among the important foods to help address undernutrition. With 490 million people still undernourished in the Asia-Pacific region, we must intensify our efforts and collaboration with the dairy sector for milk and dairy processes to become even more coordinated and productive.
And there is a clear business case to do so.
Between 1980 and 2013, milk production in the Asia-Pacific region grew at a rate of almost 4.5 per cent per annum against the global average of 1.5 per cent. By 2013, milk production in the Asia-Pacific region had reached 290 million tonnes — 38 per cent of global production — or more than a third of all milk produced in the world.
In fact, dairy is among the top three commodities produced in the Asia-Pacific region in terms of gross value worth more than U.S. $110 billion annually. During the next decade, it is expected that global production of milk will increase by more than 120 million tonnes and two-thirds of this increase will come from the Asia-Pacific region.
The FAO is working with stakeholders in the dairy sector on a Strategic Development Framework in Asia and developing an action plan for implementation and improved collaboration among countries in the region as development of the dairy sector progresses. Value chains will need to improve and we will also need to see improvements in productivity and competitiveness while introducing ways to reduce negative environmental impacts, because with increasing scarcity of, and competition for, natural resources, the sector must produce more efficiently and sustainably.
It is expected that the private sector will play an increasingly important role in attracting private investment. But at the same time, we must ensure that millions of smallholder farmers scattered across the region, including millions of women who contribute to this growing dairy sector, are treated fairly and that everyone involved is properly rewarded for their efforts. Improving the ability of smallholders to organise themselves and attain greater bargaining power in the market place must be a core element of our work as we move forward.
Receive Daily Updates
Recent Posts
[wptelegram-join-channel link=”https://t.me/s/upsctree” text=”Join @upsctree on Telegram”]2021 WEF Global Gender Gap report, which confirmed its 2016 finding of a decline in worldwide progress towards gender parity.
Over 2.8 billion women are legally restricted from having the same choice of jobs as men. As many as 104 countries still have laws preventing women from working in specific jobs, 59 countries have no laws on sexual harassment in the workplace, and it is astonishing that a handful of countries still allow husbands to legally stop their wives from working.
Globally, women’s participation in the labour force is estimated at 63% (as against 94% of men who participate), but India’s is at a dismal 25% or so currently. Most women are in informal and vulnerable employment—domestic help, agriculture, etc—and are always paid less than men.
Recent reports from Assam suggest that women workers in plantations are paid much less than men and never promoted to supervisory roles. The gender wage gap is about 24% globally, and women have lost far more jobs than men during lockdowns.
The problem of gender disparity is compounded by hurdles put up by governments, society and businesses: unequal access to social security schemes, banking services, education, digital services and so on, even as a glass ceiling has kept leadership roles out of women’s reach.
Yes, many governments and businesses had been working on parity before the pandemic struck. But the global gender gap, defined by differences reflected in the social, political, intellectual, cultural and economic attainments or attitudes of men and women, will not narrow in the near future without all major stakeholders working together on a clear agenda—that of economic growth by inclusion.
The WEF report estimates 135 years to close the gap at our current rate of progress based on four pillars: educational attainment, health, economic participation and political empowerment.
India has slipped from rank 112 to 140 in a single year, confirming how hard women were hit by the pandemic. Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only two Asian countries that fared worse.
Here are a few things we must do:
One, frame policies for equal-opportunity employment. Use technology and artificial intelligence to eliminate biases of gender, caste, etc, and select candidates at all levels on merit. Numerous surveys indicate that women in general have a better chance of landing jobs if their gender is not known to recruiters.
Two, foster a culture of gender sensitivity. Take a review of current policies and move from gender-neutral to gender-sensitive. Encourage and insist on diversity and inclusion at all levels, and promote more women internally to leadership roles. Demolish silos to let women grab potential opportunities in hitherto male-dominant roles. Work-from-home has taught us how efficiently women can manage flex-timings and productivity.
Three, deploy corporate social responsibility (CSR) funds for the education and skilling of women and girls at the bottom of the pyramid. CSR allocations to toilet building, the PM-Cares fund and firms’ own trusts could be re-channelled for this.
Four, get more women into research and development (R&D) roles. A study of over 4,000 companies found that more women in R&D jobs resulted in radical innovation. It appears women score far higher than men in championing change. If you seek growth from affordable products and services for low-income groups, women often have the best ideas.
Five, break barriers to allow progress. Cultural and structural issues must be fixed. Unconscious biases and discrimination are rampant even in highly-esteemed organizations. Establish fair and transparent human resource policies.
Six, get involved in local communities to engage them. As Michael Porter said, it is not possible for businesses to sustain long-term shareholder value without ensuring the welfare of the communities they exist in. It is in the best interest of enterprises to engage with local communities to understand and work towards lowering cultural and other barriers in society. It will also help connect with potential customers, employees and special interest groups driving the gender-equity agenda and achieve better diversity.