Veterinary Services Department deputy director Hardword
Machakwa told a recent seminar in Harare on dairy products value chain addition
that local products are a big hit in neighbouring Zambia.
“Despite the latest push by farmers for government approval
for GMO use in stockfeed to reduce costs, it should be noted that our dairy
products are preferred, especially in Zambia, because they are GMO-free,”
Machakwa said.
He said dairy farmers should use this GMO-free status as an
advantage to export more products in the region.
“Last week, we had farmers who were asking the government
to relax its regulation regarding the use of GMOs in the production of feed.
But the GMO-free status is giving our products an edge in the region,” he
added.
Local dairy farmers’ associations are agitating for the
establishment of a command input scheme across the dairy value chain as a
financing option to boost productivity.
The call for a presidential input scheme comes from a
consortium consisting of the Zimbabwe Farmers Union (ZFU), We Effect, Zimbabwe
Dairy Industry Trust (ZDIT) and Zimbabwe Association of Dairy Farmers (ZADF).
The consortium is implementing a project entitled
Transforming Zimbabwe’s Dairy Value Chain for the Future (TranZDVC).
Commercial dairy farms in Zimbabwe are well developed and
compare favourably with those in the region. Milk production in 2012 in the
formal dairy sector was 52 million litres against a national demand of 180
million litres per annum.
Dairy services authorities have set up milk collection
centres and dips to service projects in a bid to capacitate smallholder farmers
in the dairy value chain.
Animal health centres have also been set up by the
veterinary services department to support dairy development. Daily News
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