Local milk production ticks up

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ZIMBABWE’S milk production was up five percent to 30,13 million litres during the four months to April 2023, latest figures from the Agriculture ministry’s Dairy Services Department show.
During the same period last year, production was 28,68 million litres.
Chairperson of the Zimbabwe Association of Dairy Farmers (ZADF), Ernest Muzorewa, told The Financial Gazette that productivity per cow has improved.
“There have been new dairies coming, leading to increased volume,” he said.
“There has also been good pastures due to a fair rainfall season, which saw an increase in yields, improved disease control, particularly January disease, and pluralistic extension services.”

Given the current macroeconomic constraints, he said milk production currently costs about US$0,62 per litre.
“Major contributors to the costs are the feeds, which are about 70 percent of total costs,” Muzorewa said.
Official data shows that the country’s milk intake by processors was up seven percent in the first four months of 2023 to 27,6 million litres from 25,75 million litres in the comparable period last year.
Retail milk production, however, declined by 14 percent from 2,92 million litres in the same period last year to 2,52 million litres.
Average milk output for the period under review stood at 7,53 million litres. In the comparable period last year, the country’s average milk output stood at 7,17 million litres.
April milk output rose 4,23 percent to 7,52 million litres, compared to 7,21 million litres in the same period last year. At 7,52 million litres, output was flat compared to the previous month.
But comparing the April 2023 output to the January 2023 output of 8,14 million — the highest so far — it is down eight percent.
The southern African country set a new target to produce 109 million litres of milk this year after surpassing last year’s target of 90 million litres.
A ministry of Agriculture official, Addmore Waniwa, told The Financial Gazette at the beginning of the year that the country recorded increased herd growth and improved on-farm feed production, which saw production go up by 15 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 has also helped boost milk production.
The programme has facilitated the provision of tractors, centre pivots, feed mixing equipment, solarisation of milk collection centres, and borehole drilling for irrigation water to farmers.
The annual milk requirement stands at about 120 million litres and the country has been supplementing through imports.
“Through an all-inclusive stakeholder approach and supporting government we foresee a major increase in dairy output with the possibility of gaining self-sufficiency by 2025,” Muzorewa added.
Experts say the shift by processors to pay farmers in US dollars for milk deliveries has helped to cushion producers and allowed for better planning and procurement of inputs.
However, efforts are being made by the government and other stakeholders to improve milk production through initiatives such as training farmers on best practices and providing them with better genetics for their herds.
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