Dolakha, May 19 -- A photograph posted by Prime Minister Balendra Shah on Saturday, showing him tasting yak cheese produced by the state-owned Dairy Development Corporation (DDC), set social media abuzz and rekindled public interest in one of Nepal's oldest commercial dairy products. But beneath the renewed attention lies a deepening crisis in an industry that once represented the pride of Nepal's Himalayan economy.

Commercial cheese production stands as Nepal's very first industrial dairy venture. Its history traces back to 1952, when Swiss specialist Werner Schulthess arrived in Nepal alongside renowned geologist Toni Hagen. In an era when commercial milk trading was entirely unknown in the high mountains, Schulthess identified a disti...