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Business Reporter
Milk production in Zimbabwe increased by 7 percent in the eight months of 2023, official data shows, as measures implemented by the Government to assist farmers, as well as the efforts of private companies and individual dairy producers.
The latest data from the agriculture ministry’s dairy services department show that milk output stood at 63 million litres during the period under review, up from 58,8 million litres in the comparable period.
Milk intake by processors was up 8 percent in the first four months of 2023 to 49,7 million litres from 46 million litres in the comparable period last year.
For the time period under examination, an average of 7,88 million litres of milk were produced. The average amount of milk produced in the nation during the same time period last year was 7,39 million litres.
Imports of milk powder have also declined from 8,9 million kg to 7,4 million kg over the same period.
If the current milk production growth rate is maintained, Zimbabwe is confident of surpassing the national milk target requirement of 150 million litres by 2025.
The country requires 130 million litres of milk annually.
The country was once a net exporter of milk and dairy products, producing over 260 million litres per year at its peak in the early 1990’s.
The Zimbabwe Association of Dairy Farmers (ZADF) national chairperson, Ernest Muzorewa says this year Zimbabwe expects a 20 per cent increase in milk production from 91 million litres in 2022, to about 108 million litres.
This success, according to the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries¸Water and Rural Development, is due in part to synergies among the Zimbabwean government, the private sector and development partners.
The trio, through working together, have come up with policy and practical interventions that have not only generated farmers’ interest in the sector but also confidence.
The ministry said, “The interventions are part of the country’s Livestock Recovery and Growth Plan, with a deliberate effort to increase the national dairy herd from 19 000 in 2021 to 29 000 in 2022. adding that this included the government’s private sector-funded dairy heifer programme.”
Dairy farming is important to Zimbabwe’s economy and when the agricultural industry sneezes in the country, the whole economy catches the cold.
“Until the recent increase, smallholder dairy farmers produced about three per cent of the country’s milk production.
Markets for milk are strong but production systems are generally inefficient, with growth coming from increases in the number of cows rather than in milk production per animal,” Mr Muzorewa said.
There are several challenges affecting the growth, viability and competitiveness of the dairy sector including low productivity, 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 cost and effects of climate change.
To bridge this gap, dairy farmers must modernise by adopting proven technologies and management systems that will increase the quantity and quality of milk they produce.
Online Reporter
Peter Tanyanyiwa