Dendairy partners Kaguvi VTC

Locadia Mavhudzi, Harare Bureau
KWEKWE-based dairy firm, Dendairy Private Limited, has donated 20 dairy cattle to Kaguvi Vocational Training centre near Gweru in a move that is meant to ensure the institution trains highly skilled dairy farmers.

Dendairy managing director, Mr Darren Coetzee, said the donation was aimed at supporting the new training programme on dairy production management that will be introduced in 2018.

In an interview Mr Coetzee said the partnership between his company and KVTC was on going.

“Our partnership with Kaguvi is meant to support training on dairy farming. Our hope is to see this institution transformed as centre of excellence in milk production. We have donated 20 heifers for the dairy farming and we urge you to grow the business to over 200 dairy cows in the near future,” he said.

Mr Coetzee said the institute has the capacity to supply his company with milk or begin to value add milk products on its own.

“If you take this dairy production seriously you will lessen the country’s burden of importing milk because you will be able to do value addition and beneficiation at this institute. Increased local production will reduce imports as well as generate income for Government from taxes and create employment in downstream industries,” he said.

“We recognised the need for this public private partnership after realising that Midlands province is the second producer of dairy milk in Zimbabwe hence skills empowerment on dairy production should be target the local youth.”

Mr Coetzee said his company has always supported local people through employment adding that 60 percent of Dendairy staff is drawn from the Midlands province.

KVCT principal Mr Pearson Ndoro said the one and half year course on dairy management to be introduced next year will complement the Government’s Zim-Asset programme and Command Livestock.

“Though this programme is still in its infancy, the institution will support it to the fullest. Kaguvi can be transformed into a growing business unit in the dairy sector,” he said.