September 12, 2007

 

Fuel woes, commodity price rows imperil Zimbabwe dairy sector

 

 

Fuel shortages coupled with political controversies on commodity prices have caused huge losses on Zimbabwe's dairy sector.

 

Farmers attending a joint crisis meeting of the National Dairy Farmers Association (NADF) and Cattle Producers Association on September 7 said they dread being forced out of business.

 

Milk products, like other basic commodities have virtually disappeared from shops in the aftermath of the government edict forcing business to revert to pre-June 18 prices.

 

But NADF says raw milk is already spoiled before it reaches the processors.

 

The worsening fuel crisis has grounded the fleet of the National Dairy Cooperative (NDC), which collects the milk from farmers, and has not reached consumers in urban centres.

 

Ezra Ndlovu, the NADF regional chairman said the situation is likely to spark supply shortages in the near future.

 

Ndlovu tells he has throw 900 litres of milk recently because it went bad before it could be collected.

 

He warns that farmers won't soon be collecting any payments due to milk spoilage before processing.

 

Ndlovu said normally milk could stay at the farms for two days before collection by processors, but after the introduction of the price controls it stayed for as many as five days.

 

He appealed to the Ministry of Energy and Power Development to intervene immediately if the already ailing dairy industry was to survive the crisis.

 

The National Oil Company of Zimbabwe (NOCZIM), recently handed the sole responsibility to source and distribute fuel, could not comment immediately.

 

Meanwhile the NADF said milk production had dropped from 6.1 million litres in August last year to 5.2 million last month as the dairy industry continued its steady decline.

 

Ndlovu blamed the decline on the "perpetual price controls" imposed on dairy products. He said the controls had led to farmers failing to buy proper stock feed and vaccines for their herds.