New Zealand to help develop Philippine dairy industry

The New Zealand Agency for International Development (NZAID) plans to help develop the Philippines' dairy industry as a new focus in its upcoming five-year Country Assistance Strategy (CAS), an official of the agency said.

NZAID plans to allocate US$4.3 million in grants for the Philippines in fiscal year 2010, which will start July 1 next year, up from the US$4 million granted for this fiscal year.

While the new CAS is yet to develop, there are no major shift in priorities from the current CAS, with the exception of the likely addition of the dairy and agriculture sector, said NZAID Philippines Development Programme Administrator Imelda Benitez.

New Zealand accounted for more than one-third of Philippine milk and milk product imports, according to official data.

In the first quarter of the year, the Philippines imported 155,040 tonnes of milk and milk products valued at US$58 million from New Zealand, accounting for 38.7 percent of total dairy imports. For the whole of 2008, the Philippines imported 608,420 tonnes of New Zealand dairy products valued at US$336.2 million, accounting for 37.6 percent of the total.

Rolando Dy, executive director of the University of Asia and the Pacific's Centre for Food and Agribusiness, said the Philippine dairy industry can learn much from New Zealand's expertise in nutrition and animal health management.