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Elton Manguwo
AS the dairy industry continues to flourish, Government has urged stakeholders to improve milk production efficiencies to enable the country to maximise on opportunities presented by the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
Speaking at the Zimbabwe Association of Dairy Farmers 10th annual general meeting recently, Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development Deputy Minister, Dr Davis Marapira said there was need to improve on milk quality and production efficiencies to make the sector competitive regionally.
“We have made progress in growing our national milk volumes but now that the AfCFTA has removed trade barriers, we need to work hard on improving our efficiency at farm and processing levels,” said Dep Min Marapira.
The AfCFTA aims to create a single continental market for goods and services, allowing for the free movement of business, investments, and people across Africa. This presents an opportunity for Zimbabwean dairy producers to access a larger and more integrated regional market, potentially increasing their customer base and export opportunities.
“This event presents an opportunity for the dairy value chain stakeholders to discuss and interrogate the past, present and future of the Industry as we marry efforts with Government-led development initiatives,” Dr Marapira said.
His call comes at a time the production of raw milk in Zimbabwe is facing significant challenges due to high costs associated with various inputs and operational expenses.
Farmers are currently grappling with the elevated expenses of animal feed, the erratic supply of electricity, which forces them to rely on expensive generators for milking and cooling processes, as well as the rising costs of veterinary drugs and other necessary inputs.
The cost of raw milk production in Zimbabwe is substantially higher compared to other countries in the region. In Zimbabwe, the cost of raw milk is approximately 60 cents per litre, whereas in neighboring countries, the prices are significantly lower.
“In South Africa, the cost is around 35 cents per litre, 37 cents for Zambia with Malawi boasting the lowest at 25 cents per litre. This disparity in production costs makes the price of Zimbabwean raw milk highly uncompetitive in the regional market,” observed Dep Min Marapira.
It is against this background that the Government has continued to push for the creation of an enabling environment while allocating resources and other forms of support to the dairy sector as it moves to address several perennial challenges.
These efforts have seen national milk production growing by 170 percent from the country’s lowest performance of 37 million litres in 2009 to 99, 8 million litres in 2023.
“Supporting livestock production is a proven way of improving livelihoods and economically empowering citizens using the transformative power of agriculture as a major contributor to the national gross domestic product (GDP),” said Dr Mharapira.
Online Reporter