Founded from the International Dairy Federation (IDF) and the Food and Agricultural Organisation of the United Nations’s (FAO) partnership, the declaration “signals recognition of the dairy sector’s commitment towards feeding the world with safe, nutritious and sustainable products” as well as its “contribution to countries’s economies, essential role in a balanced diet, and the key role the industry plays in addressing environmental degradation and climate change.”
Having signed the declaration, president of the International Dairy Federation and chief executive of Dairy UK, Dr Judith Bryans, said: “We are delighted that the UK has joined [the 19] countries from across the world in demonstrating the importance of the dairy to the global community. When the UN set its Sustainable Development Goals it was clear that dairy was part of the solution in terms of ensuring delivery of a number of goals around nutrition, healthy populations, a healthy planet, and helping to lift people out of poverty.
“The world’s population is growing, and dairy plays a key role in meeting their needs. To be fit for the future, we must be innovative and ensure we have products that are culturally acceptable, nutritious, safe, sustainable and affordable.”
Other UK organisations to have signed include: Paul Vernon, chairman of the Dairy UK; Gwyn Jones, chair of the AHDB Dairy Board, and Michael Oakes, chair of the NFU Dairy Board.
Vernon said: “We are proud that the UK, as a leading dairy producing nation, is endorsing the Dairy Declaration. We are an innovative industry with a deep commitment to environmental good practice and nutritional benefit. We can take pride in the fact that our nutritious products can play such an important part in meeting global sustainability and nutritional responsibilities and ambitions.”
Jones also commented: “We’re proud to join with others around the world endorsing the Dairy Declaration, which recognises the major economic contribution that dairy makes to realising the sustainable development aspirations of farmers and wider communities.”
Oakes said: “For the NFU, the Dairy Declaration builds on the excellent work of the Sustainability Roadmap, as well as building on the social, economic and nutritional benefits of dairy, highlighting the important role it plays in rural economies around the world.”