Zimbabwe’s raw milk production increased by 18% to 85.05 million litres in the first nine months of 2024, compared to 71.91 million litres in the same period last year, despite drought effects.
The improvement is largely due to the partnership between the Zimbabwean Government and the EU-funded Transforming the Zimbabwe Dairy Value Chain for the Future (TranZDVC) project.
TranZDVC has supported small-scale dairy farmers by providing resources such as calves and lucerne grass seeds, enhancing production efficiency and sustainability in the dairy sector.
Lucerne, also known as alfalfa, has been crucial, offering a high-protein forage crop with a protein concentration of 18-22% of dry matter, compared to maize silage (8%) and good-quality grass silage (14%).
The introduction of lucerne has improved the nutritional quality of dairy feed and reduced production costs.
The Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water, and Rural Development reported that the cost of milk has decreased to about 50 cents per litre, down from up to 70 cents per litre previously.
Lucerne’s well-established root system makes it especially resilient to drought, offering a dependable pasture option even in dry periods.
This trait has proven invaluable during the current El Niño conditions, which have led to difficulties for other fodder crops, particularly cereals.
Meanwhile, Zimbabwe’s dairy sector has established a milk production target of 113 million litres for 2024, with plans to raise this goal to 150 million litres by 2025.
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Zimbabwe has produced more milk this year, despite drought. The government and a project called TranZDVC helped small farmers with resources and seeds. A special crop called lucerne helped improve milk quality and lower costs. The milk price has decreased, making it more affordable. Lucerne is good for dry times because it can still provide food for cows. The dairy sector aims to produce even more milk in the future.

Zimbabwe's Raw Milk Production Sees 18% Surge Despite Drought

The Dairy Processors Association of Zimbabwe (DPAZ) has expressed hope that the Resilient African Feed and Fodder Systems (RAFFS) project will help lower milk production costs, enabling them to be competitive in the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
RAFFS project is an ambitious three-year intervention to address the adverse effects of recent global crises on Africa’s feed and fodder systems. The project runs from December 2022 to December 2025.
The RAFF project was launched in Zimbabwe last year, spearheaded by the African Union-InterAfrican Bureau for Animal Resources (AU-IBAR) and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
The project targets six core countries including Nigeria, Uganda, Cameroon, Kenya, Somalia and Zimbabwe.
Speaking to <a href="https://www.thestandard.co.zw/agriculture/article/200027254/dairy-processors-hail-raffs-project">NewsDay</a>, DPAZ secretary-general Tendayi Marecha Zimbabwe currently produces the most expensive milk in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region. He said:
<blockquote>
As Zimbabwe, we are not as competitive in the region in terms of raw milk supply, raw milk prices, and farm gate prices. In SADC, we produce the most expensive milk.
Our milk is around US$0,58 and US$0,60 per litre. When you go to Zambia, (it is) US$0,37. When you go to Malawi, maybe US$0,29.
When you go to South Africa, US$0,42. So, in the face of the upcoming African Continental Free Trade Area, we really are going to be sweating because we are going to face an influx of cheaper products.
So, this programme of feed and fodder mainstreaming is going to help us reduce our cost of production and then we become more competitive within the region.
</blockquote>
Feed constitutes 70% to 80% of the total cost of milk and animal production. Said Marecha:
<blockquote>
The major reason is that feed is mainly the feed from the bag. Not many resources are used for fodder and grazing. So, feeding from the bag for ruminants will not be profitable at all. So this is the major cost driver.
This programme that AU-IBAR is promoting is going to conscientise our policymakers on where we need to focus.
I think it could not have come at a time like this when we are only maybe four years before milk is coming in zero-rated through the borders.
So, we still have four years to correct our errors and we hope by the end of four years, we will have done 
it.
So we appreciate this concept of coming up with a value chain for feed and fodder and maybe mainstreaming it so that we really talk much about it so that at least policymakers are going to support the cause.
</blockquote>
DPAZ members are Nestlé, Dairibord, Dendairy, Prodairy, Kefalos, CBS, Yomilk, and Sagemore.
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Milk Processors hail RAFFS project

Zimbabwe is moving towards milk self-sufficiency after production increased by over 14 per cent to more than 90 million litres last year.
Zimbabwe Association of Dairy Farmer’s chief executive officer, Mrs Paidamoyo Chadoka, attributed the increase to a number of factors. She said:
<blockquote>
The increase in milk production is mainly due to improved health management systems, availing of a dairy revitalisation fund, improved productivity per cow herd, Presidential and command silage schemes among other factors.
</blockquote>
The southern African nation has a milk annual national demand of at least 130 million litres.
Data released by the Zimbabwe Association of Dairy Farmers shows that milk production increased from 79.6 million litres in 2021 to more than 91 million litres in 2022, according to ZBC News.
Milk powder imports reportedly dropped by 17 per cent from 8.9 million kilogrammes in 2021 to 7.4 million kilogrammes in 2022.
Reducing milk powder imports will cut the import bill which will ultimately see Zimbabwe saving hard cash, creating more jobs and generating revenue for the treasury from taxes, according to Dr Nyasha Kaseke, University of Zimbabwe’s Business School chairman.
The dairy industry has revealed that viability in future will depend on affordable production costs, favourable pricing systems, increased access to finance and stable energy supplies.
In 2020, Zimbabwe exported US$1.03M in milk, making it the 75th largest exporter of milk in the world, according to the <a href="https://oec.world/en/profile/bilateral-product/milk/reporter/zwe">OEC World</a>.
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Zimbabwe Milk Production Increases

Zimbabwe has recorded a slight increase in milk production but still falls far short of meeting national demand.
The country needs 120 million litres of milk per year to adequately meet national demand but annual production stood at 79 million in 2021.
Zimbabwe Association of Dairy Farmers (ZADF) Matebeleland Vice Chairperson, Dorothy Mufanochiya on Tuesday revealed that milk output in the country rose from 76.7 million litres per year in 2020 to 79 million in 2021.
She was speaking during a livestock business forum in Bulawayo. Said Mufanochiya:
<blockquote>
There has been an injection in the total herd with the European Union (EU) coming in with heifers.
The government’s dairy farming revitalisation policies have also increased some heifers.
The farmers have also received training in dairy farming.
</blockquote>
She said ZADF faces the challenge of effectively accounting for all the milk produced in the country. She said:
<blockquote>
There have been wider networks of bringing on all the milk to the processors because there is a lot of milk side marketing in the rural areas.
There was no accountability and we have been trying to put together all those figures so that we came up with a true picture of how much we are producing as a country.
</blockquote>
The other challenges bedevilling the dairy sector include exorbitant prices of stock feed and drugs and recurrent power cuts. Said Mufanochiya:
<blockquote>
As it is, there are a lot of challenges, which include power cuts because milk is a highly perishable product which should be maintained at temperatures between two and six degrees, but to maintain those temperatures you need electricity all the time.
As a result of power cuts, farmers are now forced to throw away a lot of milk because it will not pass the parameters that are expected.
</blockquote>
| <a href="https://www.newzimbabwe.com/zim-milk-production-in-slight-increase-as-interventions-by-govt-and-partners-pay-off/">NewZimbabwe.com</a>

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