Online Reporter
Judith Phiri, Zimpapers Business Hub
DAIRY farmers in Bubi District, Matabeleland North Province are grappling with challenges due to the low milk prices offered by processors, with the high cost of supplementary feeding adding to their burden.
This has, however, been a common issue in many farming communities, where farmers feel they are not getting fair compensation for their products.
Dairy farming is important to Zimbabwe’s economy but there are several challenges that affect the growth, viability and competitiveness of the dairy sector. These include low productivity, a limited number of dairy animals and weak genetics in the dairy herd, high production and processing costs, limited access to affordable finance and foreign currency, high compliance costs and the effects of climate change.
In an interview, smallholder dairy farmer, Ms Sibongumusa Mthethwa, said they are affected by the low milk price at which processors are buying the commodity.
“Milk processors are buying milk at as low as $0,40 per litre despite the increase in production costs,” she said.
“The cost of feed and other inputs has gone up, but we are still selling the milk to the off-takers between $0,45 and $0,55 per litre, yet the processed milk on the market has increased to about $1,40 per litre.”
She added that even while working as a co-operative with other farmers, they continue to record a drop in milk collections, now gathering 400 litres of milk per day from their initial target of 700 to 1 000 litres.
Another farmer, Mr Xolani Moyo, said supplementary feeding was weighing them down and they also need more boreholes to ensure their animals have sufficient good water for drinking.
“We are calling for increased investment in borehole drilling to ensure our cattle have reliable access to clean water, a critical factor in milk production and herd health. As farmers, we struggle to provide enough water for our livestock, leading to reduced milk yields, poor animal health and financial loss,” he said.
Mr Francesco Marconati, owner of Queens Dairy Farm, said they were looking at increasing their herd of 338 dairy cattle to more than 2 000 by the end of 2026.
“This is our target, however, we must say the cost of supplementary feeding is affecting us. Currently, we are buying from local farmers here and it’s not enough. In a day, for the current herd that we have of 338 dairy cattle, we are feeding them close to seven tonnes a day, of silage. If we are to expand to about 2 000 dairy cattle, it will mean we need about close to 90 tonnes per day of silage, which will not be possible to source from local farmers here,” he said.
He said they were appealing to the Government to assist them in acquiring additional land in areas so that they can set up centre pivots to irrigate their own silage pastures. Mr Marconati added that they were setting up a dam to utilise water pumped from their mine so that they could assist nearby farmers in accessing water for their livestock and crops.
Processors acknowledge farmers’ sentiments
Meanwhile, dairy processors said they were aware of the sentiments expressed by farmers regarding current milk prices.
“The issue of milk price is always a difficult matter. Talking from a processor point of view, we also have costs associated with bringing the milk and processing it to a good quality. We have the Government, their eyes are on us.
When we process milk that is substandard, they will come to us to say why are you processing it this way,” said one representative from a leading dairy processor in the country.
“We have to process milk sufficiently so that we do not transmit diseases. We are not defending our position, but we also have costs that we cater for, so we understand the farmers’ point of view.”
He said the high cost of production does not only affect the farmers but the entire value chain, while processors, as players in the value chain, were affected by sourcing raw materials as they imported most of the ingredients needed in the production of milk to maintain their factories.
Echoing the same sentiments, Mrs Clementine Maregere, a secretariat with the Dairy Processors Association of Zimbabwe, said processors also had high costs of production.
“One litre of milk packaged in a Tetra Pak, $0,65 is going to the producer, who is the farmer. The processor, when they get the raw milk as they process and it’s at dispatch at the factory level, it’s going for $1,05. The milk then goes to different retail chains who also then put their mark-ups,” she said.
She said distributors of the milk had different prices, ranging between $1,20 for wholesalers and $1,40 to $1,60 or more in supermarkets.
To address some of the challenges farmers were facing, Mrs Maregere called on them to work together and consider joint ventures, especially when it comes to supplementary feeding.
Londile Moyo