Zim imports 300 dairy heifers for small-scale farmers

ZIMBABWE, through WE Effect, working in conjunction with Zimbabwe Association of Dairy Farmers (ZADF) has imported 300 dairy heifers for small-scale farmers to boost milk production as part of the 7 million Euro grant received from the European Union.

This brings the number of heifers imported into the country under the programme to 500, at a total cost of about 750 000 Euros which translates to US$907 500. WE Effect has also disbursed close to 1 million Euro (US$1,21 million) for the purchasing of productive assets for large medium-scale milk processors as well as large and medium-scale dairy farmers.

In an interview, WE Effect project co-ordinator Dr Edson Chifamba said the heifers were expected in the country this week. Dr Chifamba said the country required 50 000 heifers to meet the annual demand of 130 million litres of milk, while the national dairy herd is about 40 000 producing 80 million litres of milk annually. He said the project will also be reinforced by animal cross-breeding.

“We also have a heifer facility where we bought 500 in-cow heifers that we are distributing to farmers on a one-to-one match. That is buy one and get one. Each heifer costs about 1 500 Euro (US$1 815). So far we have imported 200 heifers that we distributed through our large-scale processors which are Dendairy, Dairiboard, Kefallos, Pro Dairy and Nestle.

“This means the imported 200 heifers will be adding on to the 200 heifers that the farmers will also cede to make it 400. In the first week of March we are expecting 150 heifers imported from South Africa and the other 150 are expected before the end of the month. These again will be distributed using the same criterion. This means the total number of the heifers will become 600,” he said.

Dr Chifamba said WE Effect in conjunction with ZADF will also be distributing semen for the heifers and other dairy cows.

“We also have 4 000 straws of conventional semen and 4 000 straws of sex semen which we are going to give to our small-scale farmers to improve the breeds and the genetics,” he said.

Dr Chifamba said under the 7 million Euro grant, milk processors will also be receiving productive assets that will be utilised by small-scale farmers. He said the project will run for four years.

“We have a 7 million Euro grant from the European Union for dairy development. So the project is a four-year project running from January 2019 to 2022 where we are giving productive assets. The assets are divided into four windows. The first window is for large-scale processors, and farmers where we are giving 40 000 Euro grant and the beneficiaries will then match with another 40 000 Euro to buy productive assets which are going to benefit small-scale farmers. So far we have given nine processors. In the second window we are giving out 10 000 Euro on a 70:30 ratio where our contribution is 70 percent while the beneficiary will cede 30 percent to buy any asset for small-scale milk processors and collection centres, so far we have given 24,” he said.

Dr Chifamba said WE Effect had also facilitated the purchasing of production assets for small-scale and medium-scale farmers.

“We have also another window which is the third one for small-scale farmers. We have set aside 1 million Euro where we are going to give 2000 Euro per beneficiary to buy any asset that has something to do with dairy. So far we have given 132 farmers. We just created a window for medium-scale farmers. They will also get 10 000 Euro on a 70:30 match to buy any productive asset. So far eight people have benefited,” he said.-sundaynews