Consumption of dairy products in West Africa: Past trends and future prospects

This paper proposes to investigate whether critical assumptions about the nature, scale and location of dairy demand and about the substitutability of fresh liquid milk for imported dairy products are adequately based on launch milk production programmes in the moist areas of West Africa. It describes past trends in dairy production, imports and consumption and examines the evidence on factors influencing dairy consumption patterns in West Africa. On this basis, it provides projected 1988 estimates of dairy consumption by product type and origin, by ecological zone and rural/urban category. It then compares these projections with actual figures for 1985/87 and draws policy implications for increased dairy consumption and domestic milk production in West Africa.