In this issue...

We report from the Global Agenda for Sustainable Livestock meeting in Mongolia, an update on DSF High Level Indicator Metrics and much more...

One hundred and twenty delegates from 34 different countries journeyed to Ulaabbaatar, Mongolia from 11^th – 15^th June for the meeting ‘Livestock on the move’.  This was an opportunity to connect with colleagues from a range of different livestock sectors and levels within these - from farmers to food processors, representative associations and academia.

As with many initiatives similar to the GASL, focus continues to be a challenge. The GASL has currently chosen to concentrate on four key themes that link directly with several of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals:

• Food Security and Nutrition
• Animal Health and Welfare
• Livelihoods and Economic Growth
• Climate and Natural Resource use

Time was invested at the meeting exploring (and agreeing) specific programs under each of these for themes.  The outputs of this process will be incorporated into the GASL Action Plan for 2019-2021.

Once again, considering many DSF members will be travelling to the IDF World Dairy Summit (WDS) in Korea in October, the next members meeting will be held there on Sunday 14^th October 2018. The venue is the Daejeon Convention Center, Daejeon. This is same venue as the WDS.

We'd like to thank all those members and external stakeholders who took part in the consultation for the 2017 indicator metrics. 

The response to comments received is now available on the DSF website https://dairysustainabilityframework.org

We will soon be conducting another consultation on the final Indicator metrics that have been developed through 2018. We do hope that you will engage further with this process as stakeholder input is extremely valuable in developing metrics that are both relevant and robust.

The Dairy Sustainability Framework approach to sustainability is a demonstration of continuous improvement across critical indicators. In order to understand where we are going, we have to first determine where we are starting from.

This is the purpose of creating a baseline assessment of the 2017 indicators. This will allow us to measure the progress, over time, that the DSF members are making toward a more sustainable global dairy footprint.

This process has been under way for more than a month. To date we have received data from many members though we need more to enable the development of a more representative baseline., We have therefore extended the reporting period for baseline data. Please contact either Dr Marty Matlock or the DSF Secretariat with any questions. We have created simple online forms to streamline the reporting process. The data we are seeking is in line with the reporting guidelines, agreed through our extensive internal and external consultation process. 

It is crucial to establish these baselines that members do access the link and provide the required data before Friday August 10, 2018.  This will allow us to generate the necessary baselines.  Our thanks for your continued collaboration. Members will receive an email from the Secretariat with the relevant links.

The Global Criteria being developed in 2018 are Waste, Market Development, Rural Economies, and Product Safety & Quality. High Level Indicators for these Criteria have been developed to meet the strategic intent of the Global Criteria and be measurable, consistently reportable, and globally applicable. The following High Level Indicators under review were recommended by membership during the DSF members’ meeting workshop in Chicago in May of this year.
We would like to move these Indicators to Public Comment soon, so we ask that DSF Members provide comments as soon as possible. Look out for an email to members with the relevant links.

For those members who were not able to join us at the DSF May Members meeting in Chicago, or even those who attended and would like to hear again the presentation provided by Rob Cameron, Chief Executive of SustainAbility (http://sustainability.com ), the presentation is now available for download in the members section of the DSF Website.

It is well worth a listen in terms of future direction of the sustainability agenda and the challenges the dairy sector and the DSF may face in the future if we do not stay ‘ahead of the curve’.  All members have been issued with their unique login and passwords to enable access to these key resources.

DSF Member, Dairy Roadmap, has published its 10^th anniversary report.

This report highlights the vast strides that have been taken both on farms and in dairies since the Dairy Roadmap was founded. Together, the British dairy sector has reported a marked improvement in its environmental footprint, not only reducing the emission of greenhouse gases, waste, and other pollutants but also improving the efficiency at which it consumes water, energy, and other resources including:

• a 24% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions associated with milk production
• a 24% improvement in water efficiency
• an 18% improvement in energy efficiency

It also found that 85% of high-density polyethylene milk containers were now recycled and that there was a decrease in the proportion of waste sent to landfill from 35% to only 4%.

The full report can be found here

On 27^th June, the High Level Panel of Experts (HLPE) Report on Multi-stakeholder partnerships to finance and improve food security and nutrition in the framework of the 2030 Agenda was launched during an event held at the FAO Headquarters in Rome. Following an opening statement by the CFS Chair, the report was introduced by Patrick Caron, Chair of the HLPE Steering Committee.

The report recommends that multi-stakeholder partnerships (MSPs) should be an integral part of strategies, plans and programmes across sectors to achieve food security and nutrition goals and targets.

The DSF approach fits nicely within these recommendations.

Read the full report here

Thank you so much to all of you for making this year’s World Milk Day such an incredible success again:

586 events in 72 countries with #WorldMilkDay reaching 868 million impressions (for May 1 to June 2).

You can view the campaign’s final report here: https://worldmilkday.org/reports/88-world-milk-day-2018-final-report/file 

Each one of you contributed to this important day and helped educate many about the benefits of milk in our lives.

We hope that you enjoyed taking part in the global celebrations and digital campaign and hope to have the pleasure to work with you again next year for World Milk Day 2019 on Saturday 1^st June.