Part of the one billion
While you’re busy eating your yogurt or cheese or perhaps enjoying a glass of milk, put these impressive figures into your thoughts, courtesy of the United Nations and most recently noted at the International Dairy Federation World Dairy Summit at Rotterdam. “Dairy is the number one global agricultural sector by value and is directly responsible for 240 million jobs worldwide, and from this approximately one billion livelihoods or the socio-economic wellbeing of a seventh of the world’s population is being supported.
“Alongside this, as many as 80 million women are engaged in dairy farming, which can play a key role in their empowerment. As well as this, dairy is also considered to be essential in order to reduce hunger and malnutrition, particularly amongst the most vulnerable (pregnant women and children).”
Not too bad, eh? Sometimes, in the rush to defend dairy from half-truths and lies, we have to remember that our primary power is in what dairy actually is – a healthy source of nutrition and good livelihood for one-seventh of the planet. We have something in common with Secretary Hillary Clinton indeed! The truth is slow to get its boots on, but at the end of it, it will show up. In the meantime, you sometimes have to keep repeating it to everyone you meet, and to yourself. In Rotterdam, the participants repeated the statements, and it was a wonderful event.
Then to add the icing to the cake, the first-ever female IDF President, Dr Judith Bryans, was elected. It is a source of great pride to the British dairy industry – again, as Jim Begg was also president of IDF 2004-2008. We here at Dairy Industries International are thrilled that a long-time contributor and member of our editorial board is now the head of the organisation representing so many dairy participants globally. It will make the next World Dairy Summit in Belfast all that more special in 2017.
