October 27, 2005

Zimbabwe's dairy industry to up milk output to 160

Zimbabwe's dairy industry wants to up its national milk production to 160 million litres by end-2006, thus saving about US$4 million on milk imports annually. The industry also hopes to boost production to 240 million litres by 2009.

The country's milk production has declined significantly over the past 10 years, from a high of 256 million litres in 1990, to only 94 million in 2004, thus forcing producers to rely on imports.

The dairy industry has been seriously affected by successive droughts, which effectively reduced the national dairy herd from 104,483 in 1994 to only 42,159 milking cows this year.

Scarcity of inputs, high cost of farm production and inadequate funding schemes have also contributed the industry's slowdown.

Nonetheless, the dairy industry is now hopeful that regional export opportunities to countries such as Botswana, Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique, Kenya and Tanzania, will bring in an additional US$10 million into Zimbabwe.

However, industry experts pointed out that about 7,500 heifers worth US$7.5 million needs to be imported in the next five years to rebuild the national herd.