The ManicaPost
Tendai Gukutikwa
Post Reporter
THE Dairy Services Unit of Livestock Production and Development is on course to meet the target of 90 million litres of milk by year-end as a 16 percent increase in current national milk production has been recorded since last year.
In an interview with Post Business, the Regional Dairy Officer in the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development, Mr Addmore Waniwa said the dairy sector has been recording a significant year-to-year increase in milk production in recent years.
He said the country is on course to achieve milk self-sufficiency by 2025.
In 2021, the sector managed to meet the 80 million milk production target that had been set.
Mr Waniwa said for the first time since 2004, the country is producing eight million litres of milk monthly.
He went on to commend Government and its development partners for implementing various developmental programmes that have seen milk production increasing.
“Government has introduced programmes aimed at improving milk production. Success stories have been recorded in the process. From January to October, we have recorded a significant increase in milk production, compared to last year’s figures,” he said.
Mr Waniwa attributed the success to the Dairy Revitalisation Programme and the European Union funded-Transforming the Daily Value Chain for the Future Programme.
“Since 2014 we have had two projects that have managed to increase our national dairy herd.
“The Dairy Revitalisation Programme saw the importation of 400 dairy cows in 2016. That herd is now in its fourth lactation period and this has also contributed to the growth of the national herd.
“We also have a running project that was funded by the European Union, which is dubbed Transforming the Daily Value Chain for the Future Programme. A total of 500 dairy cows were imported in 2019 through this project. They are now in-between their second and third lactation periods and it has also significantly contributed to the increase in milk volumes produced in the country,” he said.
Mr Waniwa said the two programmes also provided machinery grants to dairy farmers.
“Our farmers managed to procure productive assets which are now being used to improve viability on their farms. Some were able to procure tractors, drill boreholes, feed processing equipment as well as milking machines to improve performance and their daily operations,” he said.
Mr Waniwa also said individual farmers are also importing dairy cows and this has helped improve milk production in the country.
He also said the dairy sector is promoting local breeding through the use of dairy bulls, a programme which is targeting both dairy farmers and prospective dairy farmers.
“We are promoting breeding through the use of artificial insemination modern day techniques that farmers can use to cross the breeds and improve them so that we can come up with improved dairy breeds,” he said.
“We managed to get a fair supply of feed with enough water for our animals. We have a Government programme which is supporting feed production and it has helped so much,” he said.
Mr Waniwa added that the capacity building training workshops that Government has been conducting across the country for new farmers have also contributed to the increase in milk production.
