NMPF Executive Vice President of Trade Policy and Global Affairs Shawna Morris joined U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC) staff in Indonesia from June 18-21 to advance the U.S.-Indonesia Technical Collaboration Project on Dairy and encourage steps to increase dairy trade in what is becoming an increasingly important market.
The trip took place as the country prepares to fulfill a new pledge from incoming president Prabowo Subianto to provide free milk to Indonesian schoolchildren as part of a new school meals program Indonesia plans to launch. Indonesia, meanwhile, is a rising consumer of U.S. dairy, with exports rising 28 percent over the past five years to becoming the second biggest customer in the Southeast Asia region.
A joint effort to provide forward-looking technical and educational support for local dairy producers, the U.S.-Indonesia Technical Collaboration Project on Dairy was spurred by a 2023 National Association of State Departments of Agriculture (NASDA) trade mission to Indonesia which USDEC President and CEO Krysta Harden joined.
NMPF and USDEC are working with NASDA, the Wisconsin Agriculture Department, New Mexico Department of Agriculture, and New Mexico State University to develop technical education modules that provide to Indonesian small-scale dairy farmers guidance and best practices for achieving sustainable, healthy, and higher-yield dairy production.
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