Sri Lanka: Webinar highlights the dairy value chain efforts to increase national milk production

World Milk Day was established in 2001 by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations to recognize the importance of milk as a global food, and to celebrate the dairy sector. Every year since, the benefits of milk and dairy products have been actively promoted around the world, including how dairy supports the livelihoods of one billion people.

To commemorate World Milk Day 2021, the All Island Dairy Association (AIDA)in collaboration with the Market-Oriented Dairy (MOD) Project hosted a webinar to celebrate the dairy sector's contribution to the national economy and rural livelihood development showcasing innovations and initiatives carried out to develop the sector. Key industry stakeholders across the value chain including members of the dairy farming community at grassroots levelparticipated in the session sharing valuable insights providing pathways to further improve the sector.

Opening the sessions, Mr. Nishantha Jayasooriya, President of AIDA and CEO of Richlife Dairy Pvt Ltd, stated that the World Milk Day signifies the importance of milk and its contribution to the national economy.

Mr. Jayasooriya said, "The role dairy plays in society is not only as a nutrition provider but also as a creator of livelihoodsfor generations and uplifting micro economies in the country".

Yet, today...