Reducing Postharvest Losses
In the OIC Member Countries
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(2011) has calculated that the total milk production of Uganda for 2010 was 1.08 billion litres
and the annual growth rate 4.9%.
This growth in milk production has aided a rise in Uganda's earnings from export of milk and
dairy products from $20m in 2012 to $28m in 2014 (NewVision article of 15 April 2015).
As for milk consumption, the aforementioned newspaper article states that Uganda's per
capita consumption of milk has grown from 46litres in 2013 to 60litres in April 2015, a figure
which still leaves the country 140 litres below the 200 litres recommended by the World
Health Organisation (WHO). According to the newspaper article, the Minister of State for
Agriculture, Animal Industry, and Fisheries cites malnutrition in children, weak bones in
adults, dental diseases and protein deficiency as some of the implications of low consumption
of milk on the health of Ugandans.
Growing consumption of dairy and other livestock products brings nutritional benefits, in that
milk contains numerous nutrients and it makes a significant contribution to meeting the body’s
needs for calcium, magnesium, selenium, riboflavin, vitamin B12 and pantothenic acid (vitamin
B5) (FAO, 2013, Page 5). Milk is a major source of dietary energy, protein and fat, contributing
on average 134 kcal of energy/capita per day, 8 g of protein/capita per day and 7.3 g of
fat/capita per day (FAO, 2013). However, when different geographic regions are considered,
the contribution from milk to the various nutritional components varies considerably: milk
provides only 3% of dietary energy supply in Asia and Africa compared with 8% – 9% in
Europe and Oceania; 6% –7% of dietary protein supply in Asia and Africa compared with 19%
in Europe; and 6% – 8% of dietary fat supply in Asia and Africa, compared with 11% – 14% in
Europe, Oceania and Americas.
At the same time, some studies have associated high-fat, protein rich animal-source food,
including milk and dairy, with increased risk of cardiovascular disease (FAO, 2013). However,
some of these studies included dairy only as a component of the diet, and often included other
dietary interventions and lifestyle changes. Nonetheless, according to the same publication
(FAO, ibid) “It is clear that saturated fat intake increases blood cholesterol levels and the
occurrence of cardiovascular disease”. An expert consultation on fats and fatty acids
recommended that saturated fatty acid should be replaced with polyunsaturated fatty acid to
decrease the risk of coronary heart disease (FAO and WHO, 2010, quoted in FAO, 2013). In
particular, given relatively high milk and dairy consumption this applies to consumers in
industrialised countries.