eBusiness Weekly
Nqobile Tshili Business Writer
More than 7 000 small holder farmers have been capacitated to venture into low cost commercial dairy farming using their ordinary cattle breeds and are now supplying milk to markets in their districts.
The capacity building programme is being supported by Feed the Future Zimbabwe Livestock Development Programme, a local non-Governmental organisation with a bias on food security interventions. On Tuesday the western region provincial team led by, Meynard Chirima, conducted a tour of similar dairy projects run by beneficiaries of the programme in Umzingwane District, Matabeleland South.
He said the intervention was at the moment covering six districts countrywide, which are Umzingwane, Chirumhanzu, Gokwe South, Gweru, Chipinge and Kwekwe.
“In all the six districts we have aggregators who collect milk from members of the community before it is sold at milk collection centres. The overall objective of the programme is to reduce rural poverty and increase incomes, food security and build the resilience,” said Chirima.
“We were targeting 1 800 farmers in the beef sector and 1 200 smallholder beef/dairy producers. However, we have surpassed our targets as we now have approximately 7 000 farmers in terms of reaching out to intended farmers. This means we have surpassed our targets. We are now intensifying the levels of production with each farmer.”
The beef/dairy concept is a model where beef farmers can milk their cows for dairy commercial purposes using low cost approaches. During the tour it emerged that some of the farmers were making up to $1 500 a month from the project.
“When we started working with the farmers most of them were getting about one litre from a cow but when they started implementing our methods of feeding their cattle . . . the milk output increased from a litre to six litres per day with other farmers getting up to 10 litres,” said Chirima.
The new model dairy model entails confining the animals where necessary, constructing overnight holding pans and feeding them. The beef/dairy model is relatively new in the country for commercial purposes with Chirima saying they were satisfied with the output so far.
He said their programme seeks to train beef farmers to venture into dairy farming. He said those who succeed in the implementation of the model were being assisted to procure dairy cattle to increase their productivity.
Mr Chirima said farmers would not struggle managing dairy cattle due to knowledge that has been imparted on them. Business Chronicle also spoke to one of the beneficiaries of the programme, Dzingirai Juwere, who revealed that he makes almost $1 500 a month in selling his milk to collection centres.
“This programme has transformed my life. On daily basis I get between $36 to $40 from selling my milk at Umzingwane milk collection centre. I no longer struggle in monetary terms and through the milk sells I can even buy veterinary medicines, stock feed as well as take care of my family,” said Juwere who started the programme in 2017.
Feed the Future Zimbabwe Livestock Development Programme team also provides solar equipment for the aggregator farmer who collects milk from others farmers within their communities.
