The dairy chains in North Africa (Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia): from self sufficiency options to food dependency?

Abstract

The Maghreb countries (Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia) have experienced since the early 1950s a rapid demographic growth coupled to a significant rhythm of urbanization. This has led to a marked increase in the demand of dairy products. In order to secure the supply, specific policies have been implemented. They mainly consisted in the establishment of a dairy industry, based on the processing of either raw milk produced locally (in Morocco and Tunisia) or imported milk powder (in Algeria). These divergent options have had significant consequences on the whole organization of the dairy chains in these countries, from cattle rearing practices, to milk collection and processing. They have also implied differences in milk and its derivatives’ prices and levels of consumption. The paper draws a comparative analysis of milk chains within the three countries: a supply mainly based on imports in Algeria, whereas in Morocco and Tunisia, the demand is satisfied by a chain relying on locally produced cattle milk. The paper also emphasizes on the future challenges that will have to be addressed: a rising volatility of milk and other strategic inputs’ prices (feed, machinery, cattle, etc.) in global markets, an improvement in consumers’ awareness about milk quality, a further pressure on natural resources (mainly soils and water) to get more raw milk, in countries already suffering an acute water stress. The article also establishes recommendations about specific issues related to the development of the dairy chains in the context of North Africa. These are mainly linked to the fragmented offer induced by numerous smallholder farms, which implies obvious difficulties to assess the hygienic and the chemical quality of milk batches delivered daily. Moreover, this fragmented offer also means that specific support programs will have to be designed, as the vast majority of farms are not dairy specialized, expecting both milk and calf crop from their herds.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/2193-1801-2-162) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Traditional milk processing and value‐added dairy products in selected Arab countries

“…The country is indeed one of the world's major importers of dairy products (Sraïri et al . ). Small ruminant milk is generally consumed within the household.…”

“…It is estimated, however, that 10–15% of Morocco's raw milk passes through it and that farmers receive a 15–20% higher price than that paid by official collection centres (Sraïri et al . ).…”

“…Consumption of liquid milk accounts 57% of the total, yoghurt for 20%, cheese for 16% cheese, butter for 6% and powdered milk for 1% (Sraïri et al . ).…”

Typical dairy products in Africa from local animal resources

“…Klila is usually kept in glass jars or in tulle bags but in some rural areas women retain it in goatskin bags called mezwed. It was once the object of trade in Sahara by nomadic tribes, whereas nowadays it is produced and consumed fresh or dried in both rural and urban areas (Sraïri et al 2013).…”

Impacto de las importaciones de leche en polvo y derivados lácteos en el precio al productor de leche de bovino en México.

“…A nivel mundial algunos países han optado por fortalecer la producción interna de leche como medio para abastecer la demanda nacional, mientras que otros han optado por las importaciones. Taher et al (2013) estudiaron estos dos modelos al analizar los casos de Marruecos, Túnez y Argelia en el norte de África. Los dos primeros países optaron por apoyar su producción interna, logrando autosuficiencia, mientras que en el caso de Argelia se optó por el mercado internacional para abastecerse, y actualmente es uno de los mayores importadores mundiales de leche en polvo.…”