Zimbabwe’s milk production surges 16 percent

ZIMBABWE’S milk production was up by 16 percent to 75 million litres during the 10 months to October 2022, latest figures from the Agricture ministry’s dairy services department show.
Milk intake by processors was up 14 percent during the period to 67,63 million litres from 59,14 million litres in the comparable period last year.
Consequently, retail milk by production rose 30 percent to 7,35 million litres from 5,65 million litres in the comparative period.
October milk output rose 13 percent to 8,14 million litres, compared to 7,2 million litres in the same period last year.

Zimbabwe Association of Dairy Farmers chairperson Ernest Muzorewa told The Financial Gazette that the increase in milk production is a result of collaborative efforts between the private sector, government and development partners who put in place measures and interventions to revitalise the industry.
“If the rate at which milk production is growing (a month-on-month average of 16 percent in 2021/22) in the remaining two months of the year is maintained, it will result in the 2022 national milk production being in excess of 90 million litres, thanks to efforts by all dairy value chain stakeholders,” he said.
Addmore Waniwa, an offical in the Agriculture ministry, told this publication that dairy production was on course to surpass targets.
“For 2022, we should be ending the year with milk supply within our target, which we have set at 90 million litres, and we are confident that we will be able to reach that figure by year’s end,” he said.
“For the first time in history, I believe since 2004-2005, we have managed to reach an 8 million litres monthly milk production, which is a very great achievement, and we can cite a number of sector initiatives that have contributed to this increase.”
The measures include importing heifers to increase the national dairy herd under the Transforming Zimbabwe’s Dairy Value Chain (TranZ DVC) project; implementation of artificial insemination programmes targeted at increasing the local herd; and other various programmes put in place to improve pastures and feed availability for dairy cattle, including the Presidential silage input scheme.
“We first had the Dairy Revitalisation Programme, which imported 400 animals in 2016, and by now, almost all of the animals are now in their fourth lactation, and this has also helped to increase the national herd,” he said.
“We also have a project that was funded by the European Union, the TranZDVC Project, to transform the dairy value chain for the future. This project is currently running and is a four-year project that started in 2019.”
“It also imported a set of 500 dairy animals in 2019, and these are now almost in their second or third lactation, and this has also contributed to increased milk volumes from those animals that are being milked.”
Dairy farmers have received extensive training in general business management and low-cost feeding techniques, with the goal of lowering production costs and maximising returns for farmers of all sizes.
The government is also promoting local breeding through the use of dairy bulls.
Zimbabwe’s dairy industry faces a plethora of challenges, which include high production and processing costs, a lack of bankable security of land tenure, limited access to affordable finance and foreign currency, and a high compliance cost.
Other challenges include the high cost of inputs (particularly for the 2022-23 agricultural season), erratic power supplies resulting in reliance on generator power, low productivity, and a limited number of dairy a