FAO/11)F DAIRY DEVELOPMENT NEWSLETTER No

FAO/IDF DAIRY DEVELOPMENT NEWSLETTER No.2 1997

1. Introduction

The first Newsletter in this series was published in August 1995 and received world‑wide acclaim as a valuable new medium for disseminating information on dairy development and encouraging the exchange of experiences/ideas among individuals and organizations working in this important field.

Although no funds were available for publishing a further Newsletter during 1996, we are very pleased to report that funds have now been made available for the publication of two issues during 1997 and 1998.

New features in this Newsletter No.2 include (a) the introduction of a Dairy Development Data Base, with the cooperation of CAB International in Wallingford, UK, and (b) the inclusion of contact addresses (plus phone, fax and E‑mail codes where applicable) to facilitate and encourage communication between readers on matters of mutual interest.

2. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)

Although, regrettably, the work of FAO in the field of Dairy Development has been greatly curtailed through the closing down of the Meat and Dairy Service, the surviving skeleton team in the dairy area consisting of Jean Claude Lambert and Joe Phelan, Service Chief of the expanded Animal Production Service, has been able to initiate a number of important dairy projects throughout the developing world. These are briefly summarised below.

(a) South America

(i) Uruguay: Under the auspices of FEPALE, (Panamerican Dairy Federation) a non-governmental, non‑profit making organization representing the dairy sector interests of Latin America and the Caribbean (Argentina, Cuba, Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Peru, Mexico, Paraguay, Uruguay and Venezuela), a Regional Dairy Information Network has been established and is being computerised and expanded under the FAO Technical Cooperation Programme (TCP). For detailed information, please contact:

FEPALE, Federacion Panamericana de Lecheria (Panamerican Dairy Federation)

Ituzaingó 1324/503

11000 Montevideo, URUGUAY

Tel. (5982) 965356 Fax: (5982) 9575670 E‑mail: uy31702@antel.com.uy

Presidente. Ing. Fabio Scarcelli

Secretario General: Dr. Eduardo Fresco León (FAO contact)

(ii) Ecuador: An FAO project funded by the Government of the Netherlands has entered the second three‑year phase in Cañar, Ecuador. This project, which commenced in 1990, is a model project on integrated dairy development for the Latin American Region. It has four components. 1) organization of producers, more than 50% women; 2) milk production. 3) milk processing and marketing; 4) monitoring and evaluation.

Since its inception the programme has also been supported by the World Food Programme through the provision of milk powder and butteroil to the value of US$ 1.6 million.

(b) Caribbean

(i) St. Kitts and Nevis: A multidisciplinary team for livestock development policy on meat and milk production and processing visited the country in March 1977. The potential for increased national livestock production is substantial and practical recommendations were formulated. The final report will be made available to the Government in June/July 1997.

(c)Middle East

(i) Iran: Improvement of milk quality from farm to milk plants is one of the major objectives of the project. Technical assistance and equipment is provided by the Technical Cooperation Programme (TCP) of FAO for the establishment of model milk cooling centres.

(ii) Jordan: A TCP project on "Ewes milk processing units" was established in association with the World Food Programme (WFP). A mission report by Abdel Hamid Soukehal recommended the elaboration of marketing structures for ewes milk produced by cooperative societies during the short four‑month season of ewes milk production and its processing into cheese in four cheese factories (plus one pilot cheese factory for craftswomen) as well as the establishment of three milk cooling centres.

(d) Asia

(i) Vietnam: Goats milk production and processing project financed under TCP started in 1996. In view of the potentially good market for goats milk cheese, the project concentrates on the establishment of small‑scale goats milk cheese processing units with the participation of Women Union members who are trained in cheese processing.

(ii) Thailand: The dairy component of a more broadly based field officer training project is concerned with the establishment of two demonstration units using appropriate techniques for milk collection and preservation which can be handled by farmers to ensure all‑year‑round milk quality, bearing in mind that a new cooperative milk plant of 100,000 l/day capacity is to be opened shortly.

(iii) India: FAO has had a long association with the Indian National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) in providing Technical Assistance for their Operation Flood Programme under a trust fund agreement with the World Bank which finished in 1996. A new three‑year phase involving experts in dairy engineering and cooperative development, and consultancies in other aspects, commenced in 1996 with NDDB funding.

In an international seminar on Dairy Development Exchange of Experiences between Africa and India held in Harare in 1993, it was recommended that a follow‑up meeting be held in India to give African delegates an opportunity to study elements of NDDB's Operation Flood Programme. The workshop will be centred around the market oriented "Amul model" which links rural smallholders with distant urban markets.

Experiences in other Asian countries and case studies from Africa will also be presented.

(e) South Pacific: Western Samoa and Tonga

(i) Tonga: A small milk pasteurisation and packaging unit is being installed in the capital Nuku'alofa for processing one thousand litres of milk daily.

(ii) Western Samoa: Due to the dispersion of small milk producers on the two islands of Savaii and Upolu, between five to ten small milk processing equipment kits will be distributed to milk producers groups.

(iii) Regional project: Since many countries in the South Pacific are interested in developing milk production and processing at village level, a model project for the region has been approved by the French Government.

This FAO/Government Cooperative Programme (GCP) will support the establishment of a Regional Reference Centre for Milk Processing and Marketing. The project aims to set up a model demonstration unit for milk producers' organizations in the region. The first component is the establishment of several rural milk collection points in Western Samoa, serving small milk pasteurisation and packaging units, and the second component in Tonga, being the establishment of a model organization for dairy product distribution in the capital of one of the South Pacific islands. The project will serve as a model for other South Pacific islands and will predominantly benefit women who are heavily involved in milk production.

(f) Africa

(i) Tanzania: A Pilot study on Meat and Milk Supply to Dar Es Salaam was carried out in 1995. A recently published 100 pp. report on this pilot study (FAO, Meat & Dairy Service, 1996) was written with the knowledge that, in only a few developing countries, have the dairy and meat industries reached a state of development which would enable them to face the enormous challenges of providing a regular and safe supply of milk and meat products to the rapidly expanding urban population. These challenges are underlined further by the forecast that by the year 2025, over 60 percent of the world's population will be living in cities of over 1 million people. One of the main recommendations of the report was the setting up of an autonomous national body, representing all interested parties, which would organize, promote, regulate and assist in the development of efficient milk production, procurement and transport, as well as in the processing, marketing and supply of dairy produce, bearing in mind the requirements of various types of consumers.

(ii) Tanzania: 'Strategies for Market Orientation of Small‑Scale Dairy Producers and their Organisations' was the title of a Workshop organised by the Sokoine University of Agriculture, Morogoro, Tanzania, and sponsored by the Meat & Dairy Service of FAO, which published the Proceedings in 1995.

(iii) Zimbabwe: The Proceedings of a Workshop on a 'Regional exchange network for Market Oriented dairy development', held in Harare in December 1995 were published by FAO in 1996. The Workshop, organised by Dairy Services Zimbabwe, and sponsored by the Meat & Dairy Service of FAO, attracted 30 participants from 13 countries in the region, as well as from India and Nepal, and built on earlier FAO proposals for setting up and operating a dairy information network for Africa. It recommended the immediate establishment of a 'Regional Exchange Network for Market‑Oriented Dairy Development', with the acronym DAIRYNET, for eastern and southern African countries interested in dairy development, and proposed Harare, Zimbabwe, as the appropriate location of the coordinating unit. Special emphasis was placed on information on dairy training facilities; a data bank of professional dairying expertise in the region, the collection and dissemination of relevant research and extension information, taking into account gender issues in dairy development, linkages with other regional and international networks; publication and distribution of reports; and the mobilisation of funding for setting up and sustaining DAIRYNET.

(iv) Kenya: A first draft report for review/comment has been prepared on a 'Training Programme for the Small‑Scale Dairy Sector', TCP/KEN/6611, based on a mission by Mr B.T Dugdill team leader, in January‑February 1997. The objective of the project is: 'To develop and design the organization of short‑term, tailor‑made training courses at Naivasha Dairy Training Institute for persons and organizations involved in milk collection, transport, processing and marketing in the small‑scale sector to improve efficiency and quality throughout the milk chain from producer to retailer'.

(v) Swaziland: A major project financed under TCP with the objectives of:

· Preparing a Dairy Development Plan and action/investment programme for the five‑year period 1996‑2000 (Phase 1) and an indicative programme for 2001‑2005 (Phase II), and

· Establishing two model community milk producers' groups on Swazi National Land with collection and marketing functions, jointly funded by the Swaziland Dairy Board Development Fund and FAO has given rise to a number of comprehensive consultancy reports. These include: Dairy sub‑sector review on milk production, Dairy sub‑sector review on milk marketing; Baseline surveys on milk production and marketing in the Mpaka and Sengani Groups; Policy and strategy issues in dairy sub‑sector development, a Study contributing to the preparation of the National Dairy Development Plan (B.T. Dugdill, team leader) an End‑of‑Assignment Report (T.K. Mugisa).

(vi) Burkina Faso: This five‑year integrated dairy development project located in Bobo Dioulasso is in its final stage. The milk producers' association, the Government and private investors should now take over the milk chain from producers to consumers.

(vii) West Africa: A regional GCP project covering eight countries in the Sahelian zone for the improvement of the traditional cheeses produced by women in the region is under consideration by the Belgium Government.

(viii) The FAO/WP Project with Sweden on Milk Preservation has as its main objective the promotion of the use of an alternative milk preservation method, based on the activation of the natural enzymatic antibacterial complex in milk (the Lactoperoxidase system) as approved by the FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives in 1989 and by the Codex Alimentarius Commission in 1991. The programme of activities includes field trials; supply of chemicals; distribution of practical manuals; technical training, and a workshop on the technical, logistical and economical results of the method. The project, organised jointly with the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences at Uppsala, Sweden, is scheduled to run from 1997 to 2000. 30 countries already have shown their interests in such a programme. For further information, please contact:

Jean‑Claude Lambert FAO (AGAP) Rome, ITALY Tel. 00 39 6 5225 4701 Fax. 00 39 6 5225 5749 E‑mail: JeanClaude.Lambert@fao.org.

3. International Dairy Federation (IDF)

NEWSFLASH FROM IDF

'Under the leadership of its recently elected President, Jerry Kozak of the United States of America, initiatives are being taken to establish a modus operandi enabling developing countries to become Associate Members of IDF and to benefit from many of the activities of the Organization, including participation in meetings, personal contacts with dairy experts and IDF publications, etc. At the present lime, only a handful of developing countries are able to participate as members, and such a move would certainly encourage more emerging countries to become IDF members and broaden IDF's international stature'.

We hope to have more to report on this important development in the next issue of the Newsletter.

Although much of the work done by IDF, and many of its meetings and publications, are of relevance and interest to countries with developing dairy industries (as will be indicated later in this paragraph), there is only one Group of Experts (B34) concerned specifically with 'Dairy Technology in Countries with a Developing Dairy Industry'. At its annual meeting in Sandton, South Africa, in October 1996, when Ernest Mann (UK) and Pat Borland (Zimbabwe) were appointed Chairman and Vice‑Chairman respectively, a revised programme of work was adopted and subsequently approved by Commission B. The essential elements of this programme are:

(1) Publication of the FAO/IDF Dairy Development Newsletter

(11) Holding of a small‑scale dairy processing workshop

(111) In‑service training and scholarships

(1v) Promotion of IDF membership by developing countries

(v) Increasing focus on the collection, dissemination and exchange of dairy

development information and the establishment of Regional Dairy Information

Networks

(vi) Support for production of an International Dairy CD‑ROM.

Progress is being made in all these areas and is reported either below or elsewhere in this Newsletter, as indicated:

(1) Funding for the production of at least two issues of the Newsletter has been obtained, the Chairman of Group B34 is acting as Editor, with the assistance of members of Group B34 and FAO and IDF staff.

(2) It is planned to hold the Workshop at Anand, India, in December 1997, at the kind invitation of the National Dairy Development Board. Further details are given under 4(a) below.

(3) The Capstick Memorial Trust in the UK, supervised by the Society of Dairy Technology, awarded a travel scholarship to Michael Manyanya, Deputy Head of Dairy Services, Zimbabwe, in April 1997, to study various dairy activities and participate in dairy related university courses in the UK.

IDF is actively looking at various ways of facilitating greater participation in its work by countries with developing dairy industries, as indicated above.

Progress is being made in the establishment of Dairy Networks in East Africa with a coordinating unit in Zimbabwe, as reported in more detail under 2 (f) (iii), above.

The feasibility of producing an International Dairy CD‑ROM is now being actively investigated and reported in greater detail later on.

Other IDF Activities relating to dairy development: These were summarised on p.2 of Newsletter No.1 (1995) and the following gives details of some recent publications/activities which readers may wish to follow up.

(a) The IDF Programme of Work 1997 gives details of the Terms of Reference, Objectives and Current Work of each of the well over 100 Groups of Experts in Commissions A+F and provides an excellent overview of IDF work, much of which is of relevance to developing countries. More detailed summaries of these activities were given in the 'Memento 1997' containing the Report of the 80th Annual Session of IDF in Sandton, South Africa. These Annual Sessions, attended by over 500 Delegates from more than 40 countries, were a truly historic event for IDF, being the first Annual Sessions held on the African Continent. A highly interesting paper on the 'Dairy industry in Southern Africa', presented at these Sessions, is referred to in greater detail under 4, below.

(b) A conference on 'The Dairy World ‑ 25 years of change, 1985‑2010', held during the Annual Sessions and published in Bulletin of the IDF No. 3 16/1996, provided a wealth of information on both the current world dairy situation and on future projections for both the developed and the developing world.

(c) Of more specific interest to developing countries was the recently published Bulletin of the IDF No. 3 09/1996 on 'Trends in consumption, production, and trade in dairy products in the developing countries of east and south‑east Asia'.

(d) Ewes and Goats Milk. As already indicated under the FAO programme above, the growing importance of ewes and goats milk and its products, in the dairy economics of both the developed and developing world, was emphasized further by the Seminar on 'Production and Utilisation of Ewes and Goats Milk', held in Crete in October 1995 and attended by over 400 participants from 20 countries.

The recently published Proceedings (IDF Publication No.9603/1996) contain 346 pages of information in the form of 36 papers and 81 summaries of posters, covering commercialisation, physico‑chemical and organoleptic aspects, microbiological and hygienic aspects, etc.

4. Future meetings on dairy development

(a) FAO/NDDB Market‑Oriented Dairy Development ‑ The Role of Producers Organizations, 1‑3 December 1997

It is planned to hold this Workshop 'back‑to‑back' with, and immediately following the Dairy Processing Workshop. Anyone requiring further details should contact

Dr. J. Phelan

Food & Agriculture Organization of the UN

Viale delle Terme di Caracalla

00 100 Rome, ITALY

Tel. 00 39 6 5225 5566 Fax.. 00 39 6 5225 5749

E‑mail: Joe.Phelan@fao.org

(b) IDF/NDDB Workshop on Small‑Scale Dairy Processing scheduled for 4‑6 December 1997 at Anand, India.

At the kind invitation of the National Dairy Development Board at Anand, a workshop on this subject is planned at the NDDB headquarters at Anand, the centre of India's miraculous achievements in dairy development (described in greater detail under 6(a) below).

The Workshop will address the increasing importance of small‑scale dairy processing, especially for the production of added‑value milk products and having regard for the increasing involvement of women in these activities. It is hoped to present case studies of successful examples of small‑scale processing from different parts of the developing world, including Asia, Africa and South America. A preliminary programme should be available shortly giving details of costs of participation, facilities, etc. In the meantime, anyone interested in participating and presenting case studies should contact the following at NDDB in India

N.K. Chawla

Executive Director

National Dairy Development Board

Anand 388001, INDIA

Tel: 40148/9 Fax: (0)12692 40165/40156

E‑mail: root@anand.nddb.ernet.in

Anyone interested should make early efforts to obtain travel funding from local/donor sources.

(c) Conference on 'Future of Dairy Education' at Dalum, Denmark ‑ 18‑19 September 1998

This Conference, organised by Group F14 of IDF with the support of Commission B, will be held immediately before the 25th International Dairy Congress in Aarhus, Denmark, 21‑23 September 1998. It is intended to include a half‑day session on 'Education in Developing Countries'. A Conference Programme will be available from the IDF:

International Dairy Federation

41 Square Vergote

B‑1030 Brussels, BELG11M

Tel: 00 32 2 733 1690 Fax. 00 32 2 733 0413 E‑mail. fil‑idf@mail.interpac.be

5. Dairy development database

This new feature in the Newsletter has been made possible through the kind cooperation of CAB International of Wallingford, LK, the world's leading agricultural data base producer, who have given us permission to publish a selection of abstracts of papers/reports relating to dairy development which have appeared in recent issues of Dairy Science Abstracts, one of its specialised data bases.

Some of the data base items have been referred to in greater detail in the text of this Newsletter and it should be emphasized that the Dairy Development Data Base represents only a selection of items which are considered to be of special interest to readers.

For regular and complete access to this literature please contact:

CAB International

Wallingford, Oxon. OXIO 8DE, UK

Tel: (0044) 1491 832111 Fax: (0044) 1491 833508

E‑mail: cabi@cabi.org

Anyone wishing to obtain copies of the full texts relating to the abstracts cited in the Dairy Development Data Base should contact the following:

Document Delivery Service

CAB International, Library Services Centre

Silwood Park, Buckhurst Road

Ascot, Berks. SL5 7TA, UK

Tel: (0044) 1344 872747 Fax: (0044) 1344 872901

E‑mail: library:@cabl.org

6. Country reports

(a) India

If India features prominently not only in this part of the Newsletter but also in the 'Data Base' at the end, it is because this large country is the indisputable world leader in dairy development, right through from galvanising cooperative milk production at the village level among tens of millions of poor dairy farmers to the processing of the milk in large modern dairies and organising its distribution to millions of consumers in the rapidly growing cities throughout the country under the 'Operation Flood' programmes and under the overall guidance of the National Dairy Development Board at Anand, which gave birth to the wellknown 'Anand Pattern' of cooperative dairying.

A country with a human population of 953 million (including 70 million dairy farmers), a dairy animal population of 57 million cows and 39 million buffaloes, producing 74.3 million tonnes of milk annually and on course for becoming the world's largest milk producer in 1998, has a story to tell about its dairy industry. The recently published Dairy Industry Year Book ‑ 1997 (see 'Data Base' for bibliographic details) is a remarkable 900‑page compilation of information on all aspects of Indian dairy development. It covers production, processing, distribution, marketing, research and development, including such topical items as the GATT Agreement and its effect on Indian dairying, in a series of over 70 articles by specialists; 250 statistical tables and graphs. The data base section of the Directory includes lists of analytical laboratories, associations, consultants, cheese manufacturers; dairy cooperatives, dairy plants; dairy product distributors; equipment manufacturers; feed manufacturers;' dairy periodicals; as well as a useful Who's Who section.

The Dairy India YearBook can be recommended as an invaluable source of information on dairy development anywhere in the world.

UK.Freedom from Hunger campaign bows out on a high note! The Muzaffarpur Dairy Project in Bihar, one of the poorest parts of India, was the largest and most successful project financed largely by this Campaign. Sadly, this financial assistance has stopped but the Muzaffarpur project (described in the 'Data Base') has continued to flourish. Moreover, the milk plant has recently been nominated by the Prime Minister of India as the best managed dairy in India.

(b) Southern Africa

An excellent report on 'The Dairy industry in southern Africa and specifically South Africa' was presented by M.N. Hermann at the 80th Annual Sessions of IDF and published in the Bulletin of the IDF No.316/1996. South Africa is presented as a mixture of 'several worlds' as regards the dairy industry which is 'developed' on the one hand, with large milk producers using modern production methods, processing facilities and supermarket distribution, and 'developing' on the other hand, with many small milk producers using relatively primitive production and distribution methods. This is also reflected in the high per caput milk consumption (150 l./yr) among the former and the low consumption (30 l./yr) among the latter.

Apart from South Africa and Zimbabwe, all other southern African countries depend largely on imports of long‑life and concentrated milk products. Although the market potential in these countries is theoretically big, consumption is relatively low on account of lack of purchasing power and infrastructure. The key to the development of the dairy industry in southern African countries as a whole lies in the strong development of the South Africa dairy industry, and developing countries would benefit in the long term as a result of infrastructure creation.

Small‑scale dairy farming and processing in SA: Dr. Johann du Toit, Director of the Animal Nutrition and Animal Products Institute of South Africa, and member of IDF Group B34, has reported on recent developments in small‑scale milk production and processing in his country as follows.

Thousands of people are entering the field of agriculture in South Africa as small farmers. These farmers will contribute considerably towards achieving household food security in the country but they will need access to agricultural technology to suit their specific needs.

In rural areas, where no refrigeration is available, milk produced by small farmers can only be utilised through the manufacture of secondary milk products such as cheese and other fermented milk products. However, traditional manufacturing methods involve expensive technology and equipment. As a result of the great need for small‑scale dairy products especially in urban communities, a special education centre, known as the Irene Dairy Education Centre (IDEC), was formed within the Dairy Industry Centre of the ARC‑Animal Nutrition and Animal Products Institute, Irene.

The objectives of IDEC are to promote the manufacture of dairy products in rural and urban communities throughout Africa through demonstrations and training in processing techniques. To date, IDEC has had many successes. Simple and inexpensive methods for the manufacture of fermented milk products were created and successfully implemented in community centres where communal kitchen facilities were available.

The fermented products produced are currently sold in the communities. The funds generated from the sale of these products are used for the creation of new facilities such as nursery schools.

The demonstration and dairy products manufacturing courses organized by IDEC on a regular basis are very popular. Instruction videos are also being produced on the subject and pamphlets are being prepared in different languages to cater for the different language groups in the country.

For more information contact:

Dr. Johann du Toit

Animal Nutrition and Animal Products Institute

1675 Irene, SOUTH AFRICA

Tel. 672 9203 Fax. 2712 6651563

Research reports from Ethiopia, Uganda and Zimbabwe. Another member of IDF Group B34, Professor Roger K. Abrahamsen of the Department of Food Science at the Agricultural University of Norway, has provided summary reports of three collaborative research projects between his Department and scientists from Institutions in Ethiopia, Uganda and Zimbabwe.

The titles of these reports, together with the first authors and their contact addresses in Africa are given below:

Present situation and future aspects of milk production, milk handling and processing of dairy products in Southern Ethiopia

Fekadu Beyene

Department of Animal Production and Rangeland Management

Awassa College of Agriculture,

PO Box 5, Awassa, ETHIOPIA

Tel. +251‑6‑200221 Fax. +251‑6‑200072

E‑mail. acarc@padis.gn.apc.org

A study of lactic acid bacteria and yeast's isolated from indigenous fermented milk products in Uganda, and their influence on the quality of ghee

Mohammed Serunjogi

Department of Food Science and Technology

Makerere University

Kampala, UGANDA

Tel: +256 41 42471/56661 Fax: +256 41 543382

Investigation of some prospects for the development of starter cultures for industrial production of traditional fermented milk in Zimbabwe

Anthony N. Mutukumira

Department of Food, Nutrition and Family Sciences

University of Zimbabwe

PO Box W 167

Mt. Pleasant, Harare, ZIMBABWE

Tel: +263 4 303211 Fax: +263 4 333407

E‑mail. tmutuku@foodscl.uz.zw

Anyone wanting the full abstracts should contact

Professor Roger K. Abrahamsen

Department of Food Science

Agricultural University of Norway

PO Box 5036

N‑ 143 2 As, NORWAY

Tel: +47 64 94 8550 Fax: +47 64 94 3789

7. Progress on International Dairy CD‑ROM

The concept of such a CD‑ROM was described on p.10 of Newsletter No.1 and steady progress has been made in discussions between the three interested parties: Elsevier, the international primary journal publishers, CAB International, publishers of agricultural data bases including Dairy Science Abstracts, and the IDF whose comprehensive dairy data base would become available on this proposed electronic medium for the first time. In the meantime, INTERNET has made great strides as the leading information medium and the necessary interfaces between CD‑ROMs and INTERNET are now available, making more frequent updates feasible.

A questionnaire has been prepared in order to assess the potential interest in the CD‑ROM and readers are urged to contact Lyndon Driscoll for a copy to be completed and returned to him as soon as possible at the following address.

Mr. Lyndon H. Driscoll

Senior Publishing Editor

Food Science and Technology

Elsevier Science Ltd.

The Boulevard

Langford Lane

Kidlington, Oxford, OX5 I GB, UK

Tel: (+44) (0) 1865 843606 Fax. (+44) (0) 1865 843960

E‑mail. I.driscoll@elsevier.co.uk

8. Welcome to Dairy Outlook!

Dairy‑Outlook‑L is a service set up by the Commodities and Trade Division of FAO (ESCB). It provides regularly updated information on developments in the dairy sector. Areas covered include:

· Market commentary

· Production and trade data

· International export prices

· New dairy products

· Country specific developments

Subscribing to dairy outlook

The service is free‑of‑charge. If you are not already registered and wish to receive this information, leave the subject blank and send the following message.

subscribe Dairy‑Outlook‑L

mailserv@mailserv.fao.org

To stop receiving Dairy Outlook, send an E‑mail to mailsei‑v@mallserv.fao.org leave the subject blank and put in the 1st line of your message the command:

unsubscribe Dairy‑Outlook‑L

The objective of the service is to disseminate and exchange information on the world's dairy economy. In order to enhance the information, users are invited to submit articles, publications and statistical reports on the dairy sector in their own countries/regions. Articles will be considered by FAO for inclusion in Dairy Outlook and, if necessary, edit them prior to their publication.

Contributions may be sent via E‑mail to

Dairy‑Bulletin‑L@mailserv.fao.org or via post or fax to:

Mr. Michael Griffin

Commodity Specialist, Commodities and Trade Division

FAO

Viale delle Terme di Caracalla

00100 Rome ‑ Italy

e‑mail: Michael.Griffin@fao.org

Tel. 0039 6 52253837

Fax: 0039 6 52254495

To send a message to the Dairy Outlook List, address your message to

Dairy‑Outlook‑L@mailserv.fao.org

9. Enter WAICENT! (http://www.fao.org/)

FAO is faced with increasing demands to prepare, manage and disseminate the information it produces to the widest possible audiences, in the most efficient manner, utilising the latest in technologies, and at less cost.

The WAICENT system was created at FAO to bring together and refocus the many information related enterprises, data‑bases and publishing tasks of this large, multi‑disciplinary, international institution. There was also a need to reorient these activities to take advantage of the rapid developments in information technology.

In summary, the principal aims behind the creation of WAICENT were to:

· increase information

· improve and streamline in‑house data management

· strengthen and simplify the flow of information to and from the Member Countries

· reduce information processing costs

· reach FAO's target audiences more effectively and at less cost.

The practical advantages are principally seen as:

1) to capitalise on the intellectual output of the Organization through the use of an institutional memory in electronic format;

2) to increase the availability of information to multiple users, bringing greater efficiency and cost‑effectiveness

3) to reduce the burden of Member Countries in accessing FAO's information.

WAICENT comprises three principal systems which are interactive and complementary: FAOSTAT, for the storage and dissemination of statistical information, FAOINFO, which covers hypermedia information, and FAOSIS which covers very specialised information systems. WAICENT represents a new strategic information approach to the Organization with regard to paper versus electronic distribution and distribution versus central storage. In this newsletter emphasis is given to the public information available under WAICENT; the specialised information services provided by the various departments and delivered through WAICENT; and the full‑text document storage and retrieval system.

For more detailed information about WAICENT, please contact directly:

Mr. Francisco Perez‑Trejo

WAICENT Manager

Library and Documentation Systems Division (GIL)

E‑mail. Francisco.PerezTrejo@fao.org