The Dairy Industry in Southeast Asia: Perspective, Challenges and Opportunities

Abstract

Southeast Asia has low to moderate milk sufficiency and most countries rely on importation to meet the demand of the rapidly growing population. The region is the biggest market of milk and milk products coming from OECD countries. Smallholders constitute a large portion of the dairy industry in Southeast Asia while privately-owned and state-owned farms constitute the other portion. The lack of dairy animals with good genetic merit, shortage of good quality feed, limited knowledge and skills of dairy farmers, high cost of inputs and difficulty in marketing are some of the challenges of the local dairy industry. Opportunities in dairy abounds and these are driven by the rapid increase in population, increase in income and urbanization among others. Programs are in place and government has provided support to ensure development of the dairy sector. Multisectoral and collaborative approach, and international assistance could help hasten development of the dairy industry in the region.