AWARD Knowledge Festival and Graduation Ceremony: The Celebration of African Scientists & Researchers
by Steve Ngunyi & Katrina Nyawira The AWARD Knowledge Festival and Graduation Ceremony, held on…
The world came together on June 1 to celebrate the goodness of milk and all the people involved in the process of bringing it to us from farm to table. In 2001, the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) designated June 1 as World Milk Day to raise awareness on how the dairy sector is contributing to the world’s economic development, livelihoods, nutrition and environmental sustainability. This year the focus was on sustainability, highlighting farmers and dairy organisations who are embracing technology to help create a low-carbon future for the industry.
Prior to World Milk Day, the Enjoy Dairy Rally took place from May 29-31 and highlighted all the ways dairy contributes to delicious dairy foods, good nutrition, and better livelihoods. The celebrations culminated on World Milk Day where the dairy community showcased dairy’s commitment to innovation in reducing the sector’s environmental footprint. A wide variety of farmer videos from across the globe demonstrated how the sector is embracing technology to help create a sustainable future for dairy.
This year’s World Milk Day celebrations were the most successful ever, reaching record numbers. The Global Dairy Platform is pleased to report that virtual celebrations saw total impressions rise to 1.38 billion, a whopping 60% increase over last year! The global campaign experienced nearly 200,000 posts featuring #WorldMilkDay which translates to over three times the number of posts from last year’s celebrations. The global dairy sector did a terrific job at keeping the conversation upbeat and the general sentiment remained overwhelmingly positive. In addition, 100 countries around the world participated in World Milk Day activity, from Argentina to Zimbabwe.
The results of the celebrations which were coordinated by Emerging Ag, under the direction of Global Dairy Platform, is proof that dairy plays a key role in lives all over the world. Some highlights and a summary of events can be found in the report on the World Milk Day website. We will continue to exhibit the benefits of dairy as we keenly look forward to the next World Milk Day celebrations in 2022.
Cheers to all of us and see you again next year!