January 26, 2021

Philippines' dairy industry set to ramp up thanks to partnership with France

William Dar, Philippines' Agriculture Secretary, has called on the country's National Dairy Authority (NDA) and the Philippine Carabao Center (PCC) to re-evaluate manufacturing tactics and pursue a more aggressive partnership with the private sector following an agreement with France to enhance cooperation in the dairy industry, the Philippine News Agency reported.

Dar said there is a huge opportunity in the local dairy sector if investors took risks and called for the country to be less reliant on imports.

According to the Philippines' Department of Agriculture, the country imports many dairy products especially milk powder.

Data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) in 2020 showed domestic milk output rose 9.5% from 24.38 million litres in 2019 to 26.71 million litres in 2020. The leading milk producers in the country are Bulacan, Bukidnon, Batangas, Davao, and Laguna.

The data also showed a decline in imports and exports of milk by 14% to 2.163 billion litres compared to 2.516 billion litres year-on-year.

Dar said even though milk production has increased, it is not sufficient to meet local demand. He called for the implementation of modernising programmes, setting up state-of-the-art facilities, and collaborations with stakeholders which include cooperatives, private farms, government farms, milk traders, and commercial processors.

The agreement signed between the Philippines and France will facilitate links between both countries' dairy producers and associations, agricultural and agri-food companies, as well as importers and distributors.

Both countries aim to boost cooperation in the development of public policies in food security, particularly in the dairy industry. This will be done through technical and economic partnerships between stakeholders from both countries in the agri-food industry.

Upcoming cooperation activities include the launch of a pilot project for the integrated development of the dairy sector. An official Philippine delegation will also make the trip to France with the purpose of identifying best practices that might be applied to the Philippine dairy industry.

-      Philippine News Agency