Muunda Emmanuel, Mtimet Nadhem, Schneider Franziska, Wanyoike Francis, Dominguez-Salas Paula, Alonso Silvia
International Livestock Research Institute, Box 30709, Nairobi, Kenya.
International Fund for Agricultural Development, 1191 - Cairo, Egypt.
Food Policy. 2021 May;101:102043. doi: 10.1016/j.foodpol.2021.102043.
Milk is an important food item in the diet of Kenyans, especially infants. During the last two decades, the dairy sector in Kenya has witnessed important growth in production and improvements in milk quality. The informal marketing channel still prevails, and the Kenya Dairy Board, the regulator of the dairy sector, is currently introducing new regulations to increase registration and licensing of smallholder producers and dairy business operators, improve product hygiene and quality, and safeguard the health of consumers. These new regulations encompass, among others, the requirement to pasteurize milk before it is sold and adopt traceability processes and quality tests; most of these will probably result in higher milk prices at retail level. Using the best-worst scaling approach in this study, we analyzed the potential effects of milk price increase on household milk purchase and allocation to infants (6-48 months of age). The results indicate that an increase in milk price will decrease milk allocation to and intake by children. Households will replace the lost infant milk intake by fruits or porridge that might not be of equivalent nutritional value to milk. Any reforms to policies and regulatory systems aimed at streamlining the dairy sector should account for impacts on milk prices, responsiveness of consumers to price variations and infant nutrition. We recommend that regulatory and development agencies consider interventions that do not increase price for consumers and facilitate access to affordable and safe milk for children and entire households.
牛奶是肯尼亚人饮食中的重要食物，尤其是对婴儿而言。在过去二十年中，肯尼亚的乳制品行业在产量方面取得了显著增长，牛奶质量也有所提高。非正规销售渠道仍然占据主导地位，而乳制品行业的监管机构肯尼亚乳品委员会目前正在出台新规定，以增加小农户生产者和乳制品企业经营者的注册和许可，改善产品卫生和质量，并保障消费者健康。这些新规定包括，除其他外，要求在销售牛奶前进行巴氏杀菌，并采用可追溯流程和质量检测；其中大多数可能会导致零售层面的牛奶价格上涨。在本研究中，我们采用最佳-最差尺度法，分析了牛奶价格上涨对家庭牛奶购买以及分配给婴儿（6至48个月大）的潜在影响。结果表明，牛奶价格上涨将减少儿童的牛奶分配量和摄入量。家庭将用水果或粥来替代失去的婴儿牛奶摄入量，而这些食物的营养价值可能与牛奶不等同。任何旨在简化乳制品行业的政策和监管体系改革都应考虑对牛奶价格的影响、消费者对价格变化的反应以及婴儿营养。我们建议监管机构和发展机构考虑采取一些干预措施，这些措施不会提高消费者的价格，并且便于儿童和整个家庭获得价格合理且安全的牛奶。
