By Staff Writter.
HARARE – Zimbabwe’s raw milk production growth is projected to drop to 6% this year, as the sector continues to suffer from the harsh operating environment.
The dairy sector continues to face several obstacles such as high cost of feed to subsidize the low stocks of hay and also the unavailability of long-term funding. In addition, factors such as shortage of water and stock feeds as well as erratic rains are also negatively impacting production.
Zimbabwe Association of Dairy Farmers (ZADF) chairperson Kudzai Chirima said they are looking at a breakeven point of what they have initially targeted.
“I don’t think we are going to make any extra this year, as farmers are drying-off their cows due to the cost of stock feeds and currently it looks like farmers are milking at a loss per litre. So I think in terms of growth we won’t achieve the 14-15% we normally achieved. I think at most we will get about 5-6% growth,” he said.
Milk production levels plummeted dramatically from the early 1990s peak of 260 million litres. However since the introduction of the Dairy Revitalization Programme (DRP) in 2014 milk production has been going up.
The European Union (EU) has been supporting the sector through an equipment and infrastructure initiative targeting dairy farmers under the Zimbabwe Agriculture Growth programme funded to the tune of about €2.1 million. The program resulted in the distribution of 15 000 in-calf dairy heifers to farmers on a revolving basis, while at least 4 000 farmers being capacitated.
Under the program, the ZADF is expecting to receive 200 cows from South Africa starting next month.
“Their impact will not be felt because of the number of the cows that are being dried-off,” Chirima said.
Milk production in the first month of 2020, increased by a marginal 1.85% to 6.83 million litres from to 6.7 million litres recorded in the same period last year.
The country’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. Milk output rose 6% to 79.89 million litres in 2019 from 75.42 million litres recorded in 2018. But, the output missed the target of 100 million litres by 20.21%. It is also lower than the national consumption of 120 million litres.
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