Milk production in July increases 5%

Published: 01 September 2020
Milk production increased 4.84% in July to 6.5 million litres which is two thirds of the country's monthly requirements of 10 million litres.
 
According to the latest Zimbabwe Dairy Services statistics milk production was up 4.84% to 6.5 million litres in July from 6.2 million litres in June as it maintains a steady increase first seen from April.  Production is still lower than that of 2019 in the same period. In the first seven months of 2020 milk production was 3% lower at 44 million litres from 45.56 million litres last year.

The country requires about 10 million litres monthly to meet demand but has been struggling to hit 7 million litres per month with only December 2019 breaching the mark at 7.1 million litres.
 
Treasury expects milk production to take a dip in 2020 due to marketing challenges 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. Zimbabwe's raw milk production growth is projected to drop to 6% due to the harsh operating environment. Its lowest production in recent times was seen in 2009 at 36 million litres. National annual demand is now at 130 million litres.

Takings from milk and its by-products currently contribute a low of 0.3 % to the total GDP as of last year, because of a struggling sector compounded by a several operational challenges. These include low level of management, climate, land tenure, poor soil fertility, access to services and inputs, low adoption of improved technologies, marketing, and limited access to energy, which is inclusive of fuel. One major constraint, which constantly features across the board, is inadequate feed resources and high cost of commercial feed.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture, the dairy herd currently stands at 38 000 (although the private sector puts the figure at 50 000) from the 1990s peak of 122 000. Players in the dairy industry have now collaborated to raise milk yields per animal by enabling farmers to adopt new technologies including improvement in herd genetics, use of feed supplements, and adoption of hygienic milk handling systems.
- finx
Tags: Milk,

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