Africa-Press – Zimbabwe. ZIMBABWE’s dairy industry faces mounting challenges due to soaring feed costs, which make up 80% of production expenses, despite showing signs of growth with raw milk production increasing by 15%.
According to data presented at the Zimbabwe Association of Dairy Farmers annual meeting, milk production grew from 91 million to 104 million litres and the national dairy herd expanded by 13,4% from 39 000 to 44 200 cattle in the past year.
Zimbabwe Dairy Industry Trust chairperson Themba Mutsvairo said the growth of the sector was, however, hampered by growing production costs.
“Feed costs have made our milk the region’s most expensive,” Mutsvairo said at the meeting held in Beatrice.
“The elephant in the room is the cost of feed. We are buying milk at the highest price compared to regional parity. If we don’t address this now, we won’t survive open trade.”
He said Zimbabwe risked being priced out under the African Continental Free Trade Area.
Mutsvairo said Zimbabwe should be producing over 765 million litres of milk annually to meet World Health Organisation recommendations of 45 litres per capita.
However, due to poor on-farm efficiencies and cost constraints, output remains a fraction of this target.
The dairy farmers said they needed “stable feed prices, lower production costs and better cold chain infrastructure to sustain this momentum”.
They said they were optimistic about the sector’s future, but called for continued support to address outstanding challenges.
“While we celebrate this growth, we are mindful of the need to stabilise stockfeed prices, reduce production costs and expand cold chain infrastructure to maintain the momentum,” the farmers said.
Zimbabwe requires at least 120 million litres of milk annually to meet domestic demand, the gap has traditionally been filled through imports, mostly from South Africa.
However, officials say the country is producing over 85% of its needs and imports are expected to drop significantly by 2026.
With a growing number of farmers joining the dairy value chain and increased investment in breeding, nutrition and mechanisation, Zimbabwe’s ambition to become milk self-sufficient is edging closer to reality.
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