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THE MILK SECTOR OF PAKISTAN AND ITS PRODUCTION SYSTEM

Published: November 20, 2011

By: Umme Zia, Managing Director

Summary

Dairy Production and the Environment: Livestock activities have a significant impact on virtually all aspects of the environment, including air and climate change, land and soil, water and biodiversity. Two major sources of environmental pollution are peri-urban production systems and large-scale processing facilities. Waste management practices in these facilities contribute to unchecked emissions of greenhouse gases and contaminate water sources. There is little understanding or awareness of dairy-related environmental damage. No resources are committed to research on and discussion of the environmental effects of the dairy sector, although there has been some recent interest in the development of biogas. Overall, Pakistan faces a deficit of feed sources and fodder availability is the major limiting factor for milk production. The country’s formulated feed industry is underdeveloped. Safety of Milk and Dairy Products: The perishable nature of milk, the long distances between production and consumption sites, inefficient marketing infrastructure, and the number of intermediaries involved in hauling milk through the marketing chain are all factors that can lead to the adulteration or contamination of milk. Lack of hygiene, adulteration by various agents, and absence of a cold chain are the primary contributors to low-quality milk. The dairy industry is highly unregulated in Pakistan, and the marketing chain is exclusively in the private sector. In the absence of checks and balances, adulteration is rampant, as each agent in the marketing chain seeks to maximize profits. Pakistan does not have an integrated legal framework for food safety, but rather a set of food safety laws. These national standards are not aligned with international standards for quality in dairy products. Existing laws already have the capacity to achieve at least a minimum level of food safety. However, they are very poorly enforced. Current food laws are inadequate for meeting market demands. Implementation capacity of Health Department and Local Government at the grassroots level is extremely limited. Existing food regulations do not explicitly prohibit or limit the use of harmful preservatives. The Dairy Value Chain: The production unit in smallholder subsistence and smallholder market-oriented production systems is family-owned and operated using non-cash resources such as family-owned land and labour. Peri-urban production systems employ family and hired labour, the latter being paid at local urban rates. In both of these systems, women are involved in major management activities such as feeding, watering and housing, while men are involved in marketing. Owing to consumer preferences and lack of technology, almost 95 percent of the milk in Pakistan is marketed raw through informal marketing chains; the remaining 5 percent is processed by the formal processing industry and marketed through the formal chain. The major difference between the two types of marketing chain is the sophistication of their storage and handling infrastructure and practices.

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