Almot Maqolo, Staff Writer 
ZIMBABWE has set a new target to produce 109 million litres of milk this year after surpassing last year’s target of 90 million litres.
According to an Agriculture ministry official Addmore Waniwa, the country recorded increased herd growth and improved on-farm feed production, which saw production going up by15 percent to 91,31 million litres in 2022 from 79,6 million litres in 2021.
“The government supported pasture and silage schemes, leading to reduced feed costs. There was an intensive capacity building exercise by private and public extension staff targeting new and existing dairy farmers and focusing on improving efficiencies of production,” he said.
Financial support from the European Union-funded Transforming Zimbabwe’s Dairy Value Chain also helped boost milk production.
The programme facilitated the provision of tractors, centre pivots, feed mixing equipment, solarisation of milk collection centres, and drilling of boreholes for irrigation water to farmers.
Annual milk requirement stands at about 120 million litres and the country has been supplementing through imports.
The latest figures from the Agriculture ministry’s dairy services department show that the country’s milk intake by processors was up 14 percent in 2022 to 82,51 million litres from 72,66 million litres the previous year.
Accordingly, retail milk production rose by 28 percent to 8,88 million litres in 2022, compared to 6,93 million litres in the comparative period.
For December 2022, milk output rose 9,45 percent to 8,32 million litres, compared to 7,6 million litres in December 2021.
At 8,32 million litres, it ranked as the highest monthly milk output in 2022 followed by October’s milk output of 8,14 million litres.
The average milk output for 2022 and 2021 stood at 7,61 million litres and 6,63 million litres respectively.
In order to fund the dairy recovery programme, the government supported the industry in the national budget by imposing a five percent levy on imported dairy products.
The country expects milk production to expand to 150 million litres, while the dairy herd is projected to grow from 39 980 to 60 000. The sector needs about US$75 million in order to be fully revitalised.
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