The
Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) in its latest publication urged
government to make milk and dairy products more accessible to vulnerable households
so as to improve on livelihoods of hundreds of millions of poor people across
the world, NaijaAgroNet reports.
The
new FAO publication launched at the weekend, according to NaijaAgroNet inquiries shows that the
book, Milk and Dairy Products in Human Nutrition, demanded of governments to
invest more in programmes that make milk and dairy products available to poor
families and help them in production of milk at home.
FAO
Senior Nutrition Officer Ellen Muehlhoff, who also co-edited the publication,
affirmed to NaijaAgroNet in a public
statement endorsed by Fiona Winward of FAO’s Media Relations in Rome that as
part of a balanced diet, milk and dairy products could be an important source
of dietary energy, protein and fat.
“They
are also rich in micronutrients critical for fighting malnutrition in developing
countries where the diets of poor people are often starch or cereal-based and
lack diversity,” she said.
Muehlhoff
underscored the fact that a combination of food is necessary for a healthy
diet, and milk and dairy products are not the only sources of essential
nutrients.
NaijaAgroNet recalls that in a
landmark decision the Committee on World Food Security (CFS) endorsed the new
Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries
and Forests in the Context of National Food Security on 11 May 2012.
Also,
FAO launched a major fund-raising campaign with the aim of securing USD 20
million to translate into action the guidelines, aimed at helping governments
safeguard the rights of people to own or access land, forests and fisheries and
others to help the focus on improving the lives of millions of smallholder
farmers and their families.
Isaac Oyimah/GEE
... Linking agrobiz, people & technologyPix: Cover of the latest FAO publication on Milk
