This meeting organized by the FAO brought a range of stakeholders (academia, NGO and industry) from a large number of different predominantly Asian countries together to address the sustainability challenges associated with the fact that Asia is a major player in both dairy production and consumption, with aggregate consumption gains in dairy products in Asia over the past decade, twice exceeding the annual global average! OECD/FAO figures indicate that at an aggregate level, by 2020 the world will consume 60 billion litres more milk than in 2012 with more than half of this increase being in Asia. Hence we need to identify and implement sustainable solutions to producing more food with fewer resources.
This meeting was organized in the recognition of the complexity and global nature of the challenges facing the livestock sector, which really can only be addressed by joining forces with others.
This was the message that was taken by representatives of the GDAA to the meeting to ensure that the Asian Sustainability Efforts aligned with the Dairy Sustainability Framework. By doing this the Asian Dairy community have both the flexibility to support their local needs (country or regional) though will also be supported by international efforts in this same space. Importantly if aligned with the DSF, an immediate system will be available to the ‘members’ regarding their activities and most importantly a quantification of their progression over time via the DSF reporting and tracking system that is currently being developed.
The DSF will continue to support the Development Group that was formed at this meeting to work on the detail of an Asian dairy sustainability model to ensure they can be as aligned with global efforts whilst servicing their own unique regional needs.