Tall Economist: Thatcher the milk snatcher is back: Biofuels snatch milk from poor Africans

Biofuels are fuelling a milk crisis for poor protein-needy people throughout East Africa - all because of climate change.

With rising milk prices thanks to lower milk supply from pastoral grass-fed herds, owing to a cut in cheap animal feed imports from South Africa. A clear case of shockingly imbalanced climate change and equity. Where are the NGOs screaming for sustainable development and equity?

Some facts on the current milk crisis - are biofuels the new Margaret Thatcher of world economies - snatching milk from poor children?

Kenya produces 3.078 billion litres of milk annually, of which only 200 million litres are processed into various value added products. Most is consumed by the rural people - the most marginalised in East Africa.
More raw milk than processed milk is consumed not only in the rural areas but also in the urban centres, including Nairobi, Kenya's capital city where 80 per cent of all milk consumption is unprocessed.
Milk provides a conduit to livelihoods options, such as access to capital:
*** Under an arrangement with the big processors, farmers and milk co-operative societies can now get up to Sh500,000 loans repayable through deductions from milk earnings.
*** Growth in this sector is catching the attention of financiers who are enticing farmers with a raft of incentives to take loans for improvement of their farms.
And demand is increasing from Kenyans: Central Bank of Kenya says total milk processed increased from 143.5 million litres to 362 million litres, representing an overall increase of 152 per cent in past four years.
Prices for milk sold into supply chains are up by 25% in 2007.
Milk processing factories have been working work below capacity by 30-40 per cent.
Concern is rising about over-reliance on fickle natural pasture or a rain fed system - which is itself being changed through climate change impacts - paradoxically owing to the poor environmental consequences of developed country economic development.
Biofuel production in South Africa [using maize, corn] is diverting supply to cheap necessary animal feeds.
Prices of animal feedstuffs are up 50% in 2007. "We can no longer get yellow maize imports from South Africa. Some of these crops are being diverted for the production of bio fuels," said Joseph Ngera, a farmers' representative from Nakuru.
Plus, cheap imports are flooding in: "Our exports are curtailed by high duty (229 per cent) while we charge only 60 per cent duty for highly subsidised dairy produce from neighbouring countries," said Mr Muhika Mutahi, the chairman of the Kenya National Dairy Producers Association (Kendapo).