Raw milk production fell 7.94% in August year on year
Stephen T Chifamba
HARARE – In August this year, raw milk production fell by 7.94% to 6.42 million litres compared from 6.97 million litres in the same month last year, latest figures show.
Zimbabwe has however produced a total of 50.52 million litres of raw milk in the year to August, a 3.79% decline on last year’s corresponding period.
In the same period last year, the Southern African nation’s raw milk production stood at 50.52 million litres.
Latest data from the Ministry of Agriculture’s dairy services department shows that milk intake by processors was down 4.15% to 45.72 million litres from 47.7 million litres in the same period in 2019. However, retailed milk by producers remained flat at 4.80 million litres.
The country’s monthly milk requirement stands at 10 million litres.
January output at 6.83 million litres is the highest so far followed by July output at 6.52 million litres. However, April output is ranked the lowest at 6.01 million litres – largely attributed to water shortages.
According to the 2020 First Round Crop and Livestock Assessment Report, dairy herd stands at 38 000, of which 12 000 are in milk production, producing an average of 14 litres per day per cow.
Treasury expects milk production to take a dip in 2020 due to marketing challenges of milk brought by Covid-19 containment measures compounded by drought and shortage of foreign currency.
Milk production in the country has since been on a steady increase since 2009.
Zimbabwe’s milk output growth has been averaging 8.3% (68.94 million litres) in the last five years, with 2019 recording the highest output of 79.89 million litres despite the adverse effect of the El Nino induced drought, which had an impact on milk yields.
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