adminVillage in Chikomba District, Mashonaland East Province, made a decision in 1986 that has today vastly reshaped her family’s socio-economic outlook.
After years of deprivation owing to poor crop harvests, she and a group of other farmers realised that conventional agriculture would not empower them in any way, as they did not reap much even for their domestic consumption – let alone for the market.
They decided to diversify into dairy farming – something that would not requi-re a lot of rain, which ironically is heavy but erratic in their area that falls under agro-ecological natural region three.
It receives between 570mm and 750mm of rain during a normal season and sometimes something as low as 250mm per season in bad year.
“We realised that we could generate a steady income from dairy farming – something that was impossible with other agricultural activities for which we had to wait for a single marketing season per year.
“With dairy farming, we earn money every fortnight and I have been able to send my children to good schools since I got involved in the project.
“I have a child who is learning at Kwenda boarding school and I pay fees using proceeds from dairy farming,” Madyangove said recently at a dairy field day held at Nhuruza homestead in the same village.
She said their decision culminated in the birth of an association mandated to run the project and also seek markets and other resources critical in their day-to-day operations.
But their biggest nemesis was the fact that they only had indigenous cattle breeds that yielded very little milk to sustain the rather ambitious project that had all the symptoms of something that would empower them significantly.
Initially, the farmers targeted the local community and schools as their market but most of the households were also struggling to make ends meet. There had to be some organised marketing to sustain the project, the farmers agreed.
On average, Madyangove earns US$205 every two weeks from the sale of milk and the amount rises to US$410 per month, something that is far more than what many formally employed people are earning.
Another farmer, George Nhuruza said he had managed to send all his children to school and make the necessary family provisions using proceeds from dairy farming .
“At the moment I even employ two young men on a permanent basis while I seasonally hire labour when there is a lot of work to be done.
“I also take care of two orphaned grandchildren using my earnings from dairy farming,” said Nhuruza.
Besides improving their socio-economic situation, the farmers have also created employment. They have staff that is involved in the processing, packaging and selling of milk at the centre.
They have also started a savings club that has created a fallback position for most of them in times of need.
Nharira Centre supervisor Norbert Gwe-se corroborated the farmers’ testimonies saying the farmers’ decision to start milking their animals and selling their produce jointly was a way of eliminating marketing hurdles and risks.
This, he said, saw them bringing their milk on a daily basis to Nharira Dairy Centre, the place they had chosen as a central point where they would meet and sell their product.
Gwese also revealed that the farmers were now manufacturing such products as yoghurt, cultured milk and cheese in addition to the fresh milk they were selling, which was adding value to their earnings significantly.
“When they started, they would invite dairy experts, Agritex extension workers and even officials from the Livestock Development Programme to hold demonstrations on proper dairy farming methods,” he further commented.
He said since the farmers were just starting from scratch, they would milk their indigenous breeds and deliver the milk to the centre and with the expansion of the group and the demonstration of more commitment by the farmers the intake of milk rose to 2 000 litres a month.
The late Vice President Joshua Nkomo officially opened the centre in 1990 – something that seemed to have opened the floodgates of luck for the farmers.
Heifer Project International pledged to support the project with 50 cows per year after realising that they were facing serious challenges raising capital to buy pure breeds for the project.
“Heifer Project International provided 29 heifers to 29 farmers on the understanding that the farmers would later pass on a female calf to another farmer in the project.
“The farmers were also lucky to get another 30 heifers in 1993 while another 48 came the following year. The Dairy Development Programme did not want to be outdone and provided bulls to cross with indigenous breeds,” explained Gwese.
He however added that the farmers were dealt a huge blow by the recurrent droughts that hit the country in the nineties that left them without pure breeds once again largely because they could not provide supplementary feeding for the animals.
The economic meltdown that hit Zimbabwe between 2000 and 2008 further compounded their sorry situation and this saw the number of farmers shrinking as many failed to cope with the numerous challenges normally associated with dairy farming.
Gwese revealed that at the moment the centre was receiving between 250 and 300 litres of milk a day with each farmer bringing in an average of between 4 and 5 litres while the best could even reach 15 to 20 litres a day.
The farmers sell the milk to local boarding schools, the surrounding community and sometimes go to far away markets such as Chivhu, Mvuma, Gweru and even Harare.
“The biggest handicap at the moment is that the cows being used are no longer pure breeds but crosses from beef breeds that naturally do not yield a lot of milk.
It is however refreshing to note that some of the farmers may soon start artificial insemination programmes as a way of resuscitating their herds,” said Gwese.
The cost of buying pure breeds is currently swinging between US$1 200 and US$1 500 per beast, which is naturally unaffordable for the resource poor farmers.
Today there are 63 active members after the number shrank from the initial 85. They are just beginning to pick up the bits and pieces of what had once been a vibrant project.
Of course they now have a lot of hope and determination after the coming in of another non-governmental organisation, the Swedish Co-operative Center in 2010.
SCC has initiated capacity building programmes to allow the farmers to make their own feeds using locally available resources to reduce production costs.
With the help of the Livestock Production Department, Forestry Commission, the Environmental Management Agency, Zimbabwe Farmers Union, Ministries of Youth Development, Indigenisation and Empowerment and Women’s Affairs, Gender and Community Development, SCC set up teams in February last year to train and assist farmers.
The teams trained the farmers in the production of fodder, hay and facilitated the switch from conventional pasture grazing to zero grazing.
“As SCC we have since extended a concessionary loan of US$18 800 to the farmers for the rehabilitation of their cold room, buying of a tri-cycle for milk collection and bicycles for 23 farmers, milking cans and other basics.
“We want the farmers to develop a culture of business so they will repay the loan once they break even. The programme we have introduced here, just like in the other areas we are operating, is called Farmers Fighting Poverty,” SCC project manager Jonathan Kagoro said on the sidelines of the Nhende dairy field day.
He also revealed that the loan would help the farmers set up an agro-vet shop for feeds and drugs, set up a tele-centre with three computers, printers and improve internet access capacity.
At the moment, SCC is in the process of negotiating an electronic farmer payout system with a local bank, TN Bank so that the farmers can use debit cards, thus easing their payment methods.
The farmers have also benefited from an artificial insemination programme that has seen a total of 119 cows getting inseminated. SCC initiated the scheme.
Bongani Ndlovu
Online Reporter