Residents of Nyabihu district in the western province and neighbouring areas are set to benefit from a dairy plant to be constructed at Mukamira, Rwanda.

The RWF3.8-billion (US$6.52-million) project will be jointly funded by the government, livestock farmers, and the Rwanda Development Bank (BRD), according to Vianney Otto Muhinda, coordinator of the One Cow project in the Ministry of Agriculture.

He said that government will contribute RWF600 million (US$1.04 million); while farmers are expected to raise the same amount and RDB will accord a loan of RWF2.6 billion (US$4.49 million) to Mukamira Company.

"People in this area are hard working livestock farmers but they lack a profitable market for their milk, therefore some resort to making cheese which is not as beneficial as pasteurised milk or any other dairy product," Muhinda said.

He added that farmers in the area produce about 100,000 litres of milk a day.