Zambian farmers concerned over EU's move to ban milk quotas

Farmers in Zambia have expressed concern over the European Union's (EU) decision to abolish milk production quotas, saying this will lead to the flooding of the produce on the local market and negatively affect the growth of the dairy sector, the Zambia Daily Mail reported on Thursday.

Recently, the EU milk production quotas were abolished after more than three decades of efforts to prevent over-production and some European countries are expected to sharply increase production.

But the Zambia National Farmers Union (ZNFU), an organization representing the interest of farmers in Zambia, said small-scale farmers, who are at the receiving end of the global milk price slumps, will be the worst hit by milk dumping on the local market.

"The EU milk production quotas have been abolished after more than three decades of efforts to prevent overproduction. This will lead to increased milk supply on the international market and reduced farm gate prices for EU countries," the organization was quoted as saying by the paper in a statement.

"For in Zambia in particular, this implies that there will be a huge milk pool flowing our way which, if not controlled, could lead to thwarting of our infant dairy industry and subsequent stagnation and job losses within the dairy sub-sector," the organization added.

According to the farmers' body, prices of dairy products on the international market have already started falling. Endi