Redressing Raw Deals: Enhancing milk markets vital to the poor

By supporting 'informal' dairy producers and sellers with policies better suited to their circumstances, developing countries are taking advantage of the historic opportunity that livestock now offers to lift millions of people out of poverty. With demand for foods of animal origin expected to double over the next 20 years in developing countries, the dairy cow is fast becoming one of the smartest investments a farmer can make. Small-scale African farmers are already doing a brisk trade in dairy products. Particularly in East Africa's three million dairy households, dairying acts as a cash crop, generating more regular household income and jobs for the unskilled than other enterprises.

Traditional milk markets - which handle unpasteurised, or 'raw' milk - are behind the dairy boom in many developing countries. In Kenya, for example, where per capita consumption of liquid milk totalled 85 kilograms in 1999, traditional milk markets supply more than 80% of the milk sold. Compared with their commercial competitors, small-scale dairy agents provide cheaper milk to consumers and pay better prices to producers. Despite these benefits, public officials concerned about the possible health risks of unpasteurised milk have actively discouraged the country's indigenous milk markets. Kenya's dairy development authorities urgently need more reliable information to make more judicious policy.