Milk for All

Around 40,000 liters of milk goes to waste every day as the demand for milk products has shrunk

You offer coffee or tea to your guest, but what would you think if someone offers you a cup of milk instead? A few may consider it normal, while many others may shrug their shoulders. But why am I talking about offering milk instead of tea and coffee as a social etiquette?

Drinking milk can make your bones strong. More than that, you can also earn philanthropic virtues if you drink milk as this act will also help farmers. Their production won't go to waste. With the unforeseen milk holiday imposed by the dairy operators, milk has been wasted in recent days. Milk holiday is effective two to three days a week. Milk is losing its popularity as people are reluctant to drink milk and milk products.

Milk producers are small-scale farmers. Therefore, drinking milk can have a big impact. The daily milk surplus is at about 40,000 liters per day, according to National Dairy Development Board (NDDB). If you drink additional 250 ml milk a day, the milk demand will increase to 650,000 liter per day, supposing that all residents of Kathmandu Valley start drinking milk. Do the math, if each valley denizens drinks 250 ml milk a week. It will alone not only end current milk holiday but will create additional daily demand for 50,000 liter.

Even factoring in this increased consumption, per capita milk consumption will be only 52 liters per year, half the Asian average. Per capita milk consumption in Finland, at 361 liters, is the highest in the world. The World Health Organization and Food and Agriculture Organization recommend drinking 91 liters of milk in a year for healthy life. But, in Nepal, all the excess milk is going to waste.

Government officials blame change in people's food habits as milk products are among the least favorite food items these days. Food experts say milk consumption has been limited to drinking milk tea and coffee. Many prefer black tea. Farmers are now running from post to pillar to find market of their products. Many are startups in cow-farming. Changed food habits and availability of an array of alternative cuisines is behind decreased interest in milk.

However, the main reason for people's lack in interest in milk is that dairies mix imported milk powder in animal milk. As Europe has banned exporting dairy products to Russia and the products are routed to Asia, it has resulted in a sharp plunging of prices.

The country imported milk and milk products worth Rs 2 billion in last fiscal year; this includes children's feed and milk powder. Dairy industries can tap the market and at least substitute import. However, they are uninterested in innovation and only look to make fast bucks with minor processing of milk they obtain from farmers. They earn handsome profit. Chitwan Milk Private Limited, the largest milk powder producer in the country, has pulled down its shutters citing sustained loss over recent years.

Per day milk deficit was 130,000 liters a year ago, but right now we produce in excess and it goes to waste. Farmers neither have capacity to store milk and nor can they consume the produced amount on their own. Dairy operators, on the other hand, say the current slump in demand owes to the earthquakes. They also have huge stocks of ghee made out of milk purchased during the quake when the milk was not sold. Now they are building connections with the authorities demanding up to 90 percent refund of Value Added Tax from the current 50 percent refund.

The government policy is to increase production. Artificial insemination and fodder mission has accelerated production in the last four years but farmers complain that the government has no marketing plan for milk and milk products. The government should now try to make cow farming competitive through cost reduction. The lean season comes to end at mid-September and peak season ahead means more milk holidays.

Failing to address the problem on time will result in shutdown of many startups and many may lose self-employment. Restrictions on import of milk powder could be an immediate measure but other sustainable measures like marketing milk and its products and increasing consumption should be adopted. Milk producers should also enter the market with ready-to-drink bottled milk along with other milk products so that consumers may have alternatives to aerated drinks in every shop. The government should encourage dairies to come up with promotional messages to increase dairy production through subsidized promotional campaigns.

A proposal of exporting milk to Bihar, India is under deliberation in the cabinet. However, this is only a short-term measure. Boosting consumption is the only sustainable solution as the global price of milk products is in the decline. The government can start by asking security forces to consume fresh milk in place of imported powder milk. The general public too should start drinking local milk and consuming local milk products.

The author is with Republica's business bureau
rudra.pangeni@gmail.com - See more at: http://www.myrepublica.com/opinion/story/28062/milk-for-all.html#sthash.W3AJAnSR.dpuf