Mongolia celebrates World Milk Day for the 4^th year with the highlight in Dairy in support of Sustainable Development Goals in collaboration with the Government of Mongolia and all stakeholders in dairy value chain.

During the celebration, Ms. Tsetsgee. S, dairy producer and dairy processing technologist Advisory engineer presented Mongolian Dairy sector strongly positioned to help reach the Sustainable Development Goals. Ms. Sarandigana presented the current policy of dairy sector in Mongolia and future outlooks. Mr. Unurbayar, State secretary of Ministry of Labor and Social Protection made remarks on dairy sector contribution to rural employment creation among women. 

Mr. D Terbishdavga, Member of the Parliament and President of Mongolian Food Industrial Association highlighted that Mongolia has full potential to meet the domestic supply, therefore dairy sector established a goal to provide milk for every citizen of Mongolia.

Milk is a highly nutritious food and an excellent source of energy, protein, vitamins and minerals complete with the enzymes necessary to digest and assimilate all these nutrients.

Beyond the obvious health benefits, dairy also contributes to the nation’s prosperity. Sale of milk provides a stable cash income to small producers who otherwise may not have many other earning opportunities. By providing small producers an attractive option of making a living, dairy farming transforms the rural areas one step at a time. Further, processing and distribution activities, from pasteurization to yogurt manufacturing, not only add value to raw milk but also create jobs. According to FAO estimates, in smallholder production systems, between 1.2 and 5.7 full time jobs are created for every 100 litres of milk traded in the market. Thus, a thriving dairy sector can significantly boost rural development and contribute to overall economic growth of the nation.

But while dairy has this big potential, we need to strive towards making the sector more sustainable and competitive. This means helping small producers to access the market and services and developing successful dairy business models. This means creating a sector that is socially and environmentally responsible and produces safe and healthy food. Only by doing so we can make the sector more sustainable for the benefit of future generations.  

World Milk Day was initiated by FAO in 2001 and has since become an annual event celebrated in a large number of countries as a way to focus attention on milk as a nutritious food.

The “Dairy Processing Handbook” launched.

The book was printed with the support by   “Support to employment creation in Mongolia (SECiM) Component 2: Piloting quality private sector work in selected livestock and vegetable value chains”. The project is funded by the European Union, the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization and Industrial Development Organization. The project is implemented jointly by the Government of Mongolia, FAO and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization.

Since its release, this book has become a table book of engineers, processing technologists and professionals of dairy sector around the world. The fact that it is in the third edition in Mongolia shows the demand for this book that gained appreciation of the professionals working in the sector.

The book contents cover composition of various types of animal milk, their specific characteristics, physicial, chemical and biological properties, scientific rationale for initial milk processing, culture of dairy products, their production, various types of drinking milk, sour milk products, cheese, butter, dried milk, icecream, reconstituted milk, casein, whey processing, technological operations and main equipment used in milk processing factory, as well as their working principles, design and modelling of production lines, washing, cleaning and disinfection of dairy equipment.