There used to be 200 000 milk producing cows in the country but now there are only 38 000. Commentators said President Robert Mugabe’s chaotic land reform has
seen dairy farming crumbling, as the resettled farmers slaughtered the dairy cows to sell the meat, while others did not have the dairy farming technical knowhow.
Nestle Zimbabwe country manager, Kumbirai Katsande, said Zimbabwe should resuscitate the dairy industry to stimulate competition.
“This will see the steep producer price of milk which farmers are charging going down. The dwindling milk production over the years has caused the rise in milk producer prices. Our Zimbabwean milk is very expensive as a result we are now importing from South Africa to supplement local supplies,” he said.
Katsande said Nestle’s milk processing line was running at 30 percent capacity utilization.
He said: “In addition to lowering production costs, resuscitating the dairy industry will also ensure adequate provision of some milk products which are currently in short supply.”
Post published in: News