Smallholder dairy development in Asia and the Pacific

Consumption of milk and milk products has grown rapidly in Asia and the Pacific region, making it the strongest growing region for dairy product consumption during the last three decades. Asian consumers have generated nearly half of the global dairy product demand over the past three decades. While production has responded to growing demand, it has still fallen short of consumption gains. Consequently, net imports of milk and milk product in the region are up 3-fold over this period. (Table 1). Recent OECDFAO Agricultural Outlook estimates that the demand for milk and milk products in the region will touch almost 320 million tonnes by the year 2021 (OECD-FAO, 2012). This means the region will need to increase milk availability by another 75 million tonnes within this decade and this will need to occur against the backdrop of increasing resource scarcity, rising food and feed prices and growing environmental concerns.