John Myers Jr., Agriculture Coordinator

Left: Balteano Duffus, general secretary, Beef and Dairy Producers Association of Jamaica.   Right: Dr. Paul Jennings, CEO of the Jamaica Dairy Development Board. - Photos by Andrew Smith/Photography Editor

With the price of skimmed and whole milk increasing rapidly on the world market, stakeholders in the livestock sub-sector are urging the Government to fast-track the re-development of the island's dairy industry to guarantee that milk products remain at affordable prices to the people.

Speaking at a Gleaner Editors' Forum on the livestock sub-sector last Wednesday, Dr. Paul Jennings, chief executive officer of the Jamaica Dairy Development Board (JDDB), pointed out that the milk price on the world market was rising rapidly towards the US$4,000 per tonne mark and very soon the commodity, which is rich in protein, calcium and other vitamins and minerals, could become unaffordable to people in countries like Jamaica.

According to Dr. Jennings, "We expect that within about five years the price will go to $4,000 a tonne for skimmed and whole milk powder and all it takes for the housewife to become totally indifferent to milk powder in sachets and fresh milk is for the international price to move to about US$3,100." He said the price is expected to reach the US$3,100 mark within the next three years.

The JDDB CEO contended that the time when milk would become unaffordable was upon us and immediate steps should be taken to revive what is left of Jamaica's dairy sub-sector.

Struggling to keep afloat

The dairy industry, in the last 10 years or more, has been hit hard by mainly cheap imports of skimmed and whole milk powder, and since then has been struggling to keep afloat. Based on available figures from the Ministry of Agriculture and Lands, production of grade A milk fell to a 20-year low of 15.4 million litres in 2004, while small-farm milk production (grade B milk) fell to 462,000 litres, 37 per cent less than what was produced in 2003.

Turning to the beef sub-sector, Dr. Jennings said the price of beef has been increasing steadily and it has now reached a point where the meat is in short supply. He said producers of calf wieners were paid US$65 per hundred weight or US$0.65 per pound in 1995, but are now being paid US$130 per hundred weight. The estimated retail price for beef in the supermarket currently ranges between $450 and $500 per kilogram.

A study commissioned by the Jamaica Livestock Association (JLA) in 2005 on cattle production showed a frightening 50 per cent decline when compared with production in 1990. Since then this area of the livestock sector has shown little or no growth. In fact, the Planning Institute of Jamaica's (PIOJ) quarterly report on the performance of the economy showed that while the agricultural sector grew by some 24 per cent in the second quarter of the year, the livestock sector suffered a 0.2 per cent decline.

But Dr. Jennings noted that the demand for beef in Jamaica has been increasing since the scare, hence the need for rehabilitating cattle production to ensure availability. And with the threat posed by avian influenza (bird flu) to the poultry industry, international aid agencies such as the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation has expressed the importance of developing other sources of meat protein to guarantee availability in the unlikely event of an outbreak.

Balteano Duffus, general secretary of the Beef and Dairy Producers Association of Jamaica (BADPAJ), argued that the beef sub-sector was very important to the economy, contributing some $5 billion in 2003 to the country's gross domestic product (GDP). Mr. Duffus further argued that this sub-sector could become a key element in the re-development of rural communities and the economy in general.

Affected small farmers

"The decline in the sector over the last several years have affected small farmers tremendously," he said. He pointed to a recent study which estimated the value of the decline in the beef sub-sector between 1996 and 2003 to be in the region of US$14 million.

"A lot of people are saying the industry is uncompetitive, well I am saying that the beef industry is already competitive, and the dairy industry will become competitive just on the basis of (supplying) fresh milk," Dr. Jennings declared.