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Munyaradzi Musiiwa Midlands Correspondent
ANCHOR Holdings has courted another French investor to partner its subsidiary, Anchor Agriculture, in dairy farming that the company intends to venture at its Gweru Farm which will see the firm importing 2 000 dairy cows from the European country and South Africa, an official has said. In an interview on the sidelines of the commissioning of Anchor Yeast-Societe Industrielle Lesaffre merger last week, Anchor Holdings board chairman Mr Benson Samudzimu said the company’s subsidiary Anchor Agriculture was intending to venture into dairy farming at its Geluk farm on the outskirts of Gweru.
Mr Samudzimu said Anchor Holdings had already started preparing the farm by irrigating 500 hectares of pastures to pave way for dairy farming and has invested $1 million.
“We are planning on using the resultant effluent which is highly nutritious from Anchor Yeast now Lesaffre Zimbabwe to irrigate 500 hectares at our farm which is about 17 kilometres from the plant. We will use it to irrigate the pastures and foliage crop that would feed the dairy cows. We are going to import 2 000 cows from France and South Africa at a cost of about $2 000 each which is about $4 million in total.
These cows will each produce 30 litres everyday which is about 60 000 litres per day when combined. We recently leant that the country has a deficit in raw milk. We are looking forward to meeting the demand so that the country will not have to import the milk,” he said.
Vice-President Emmerson Mnangagwa said the partnership will go a long way in complementing Government efforts in achieving its targets espoused in the Zimbabwe Agenda for Sustainable Socio-Economic Transformation (Zim Asset).
“I am reliably informed that effluent from the yeast manufacturing process which is high in nutrients will be pumped to the nearby Geluk farm and used to irrigate over 500 hectares of pastures that will serve as the foundation for the creation of a milking cow dairy farm. The milk from the farm will feed into the nation’s dairy processors.
“The country is currently faced with the challenge of a low dairy herd and an inadequate supply of raw milk. It complements the Food Security and Nutrition Cluster,” he said in a speech read on his behalf by Senator Monica Mutsvangwa.
Lesaffre employs a staff of 8 000 divided between more than 80 subsidiaries in production sites and commercial offices in more than 40 countries.
Its products are sold in more than 180 countries.
Lesaffre Group controls 60 percent of the world market. Anchor Yeast which has rebranded into Lesaffre-Zimbabwe is set to increase production to 100 percent following the conclusion of the deal with the French company which will see Lesaffre injecting $6 million into the country’s leading yeast manufacturer.
Anchor Yeast now Lesaffre-Zimbabwe will also be taking over the South African market as well as the conduit of supplying other new products provided by the French manufacturing company.
The company will increase its workforce which is 125 by 50 percent before the end of year.
Online Reporter