Source: Dairy industry competitive, needs investor boost – herald
Director for Strategic Policy Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation in the Ministry of Industry and Commerce Vavariro Ropafadzo Kwaramba (centre), Veterinary Services chief director Dr Pious Makaya (right) and Strategic Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation director for the Lands Ministry, Abraham Mashumba (right) at the launch of the Dairy Value Chain Competitiveness Report by the National Competitiveness Commission in collaboration with Zimbabwe Dairy Industry Trust in Harare yesterday. — Picture: Joseph Manditswara.Felistas Tavarera
GOVERNMENT has called for more investment in modern farming techniques, quality feed production and efficient supply chain management to boost productivity in the dairy sector.
Addressing delegates at the launch of the dairy value chain competitiveness report in Harare yesterday, the permanent secretary for Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries,Water and Rural Development, Professor Obert Jiri, hailed stakeholders in the dairy value chain, including farmers, processors, distributors, retailers, input suppliers and service providers.
The report, launched by the National Competitiveness Commission (NCC) in collaboration with the Zimbabwe Dairy Industry Trust (ZIDT), is meant to enhance industry productivity and competitiveness across all sectors of the economy.
In a speech read on his behalf by the director of Strategic Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation in his Ministry, Mr Abraham Mashumba, Prof Jiri noted that the report analyses various components to identify opportunities, challenges and areas for improvement.
“The dairy value chain competitive report is the result of a comprehensive analysis expertly compiled by the national competitive commission and dairy value chain stakeholders, a report that highlights the opportunities and challenges for the dairy industry and also profiles strategic pathways for strengthening the competitiveness of the industry.
“The demand for dairy products continues to grow both locally and beyond our borders, presenting an incredible opportunity for our country from a daily farmers and value chain producers point of view. This includes our processors, distributors, retailers, providers of space in terms of land, pens, and other physical infrastructure, suppliers of feeds, chemicals, providers of logistical support, cold chain marketing facilities, even human capacity development in terms of skills, the area of standards and regulatory requirements and external trade facilitation and protection,” he said.
Prof Jiri said the dairy value chain competitive report clearly outlines that industry’s ability to compete effectively will depend on the implementation of some targeted interventions.
Enhancing the dairy industry competitiveness, he said, requires investment in modern farming techniques, quality feed production, and efficient supply chain management. It also calls for robust regulatory frameworks in an enabling environment to ensure food safety, and reduction in compliance costs.
Prof Jiri said this culminates in fair price models to support producers and consumers, as well as access to concessional financial resources that support and empower farmers to scale up their operations.
“This is critical to achieving the dairy industry targets as set out in the agriculture, food systems, and rural transformation strategy, which is the blueprint for agricultural sector, as well as our National Development Strategy 1, transitioning now into National Development Strategy 2, as we march towards our great Vision 2030,” he said.
“As the dairy industry, and also extending to the entire agricultural space and the nation at large, a key pillar in our competitiveness is the adoption of technology for improved genetics, better breeding techniques, better animal health management, space management, better infrastructure for our sector, better feeds for our sector, and advanced processing and packaging facilities and methods. Such innovations are key to ensuring that the dairy industry meets the highest standards of production, productivity, and quality to compete within the region and at a global level”.
Prof Jiri said in all these endeavours, industry players must also ensure sustainability so that the country grows the sector in a way that protects the environment.
He said another crucial factor is market access and strengthening linkages between farmers, processors, distributors, and retailers to ensure efficient pathways from production to consumption by creating an enabling environment for investment in market infrastructure and related facilitation.
The dairy industry contributes about 4 percent to Gross Domestic Product, employing directly over 30 000 people.
“The report itself focuses on boosting milk yields, promoting value addition, and also looking at issues to do with resilience and climate change mitigation. Milk production has increased by about 15 percent in the last year, that is the raw milk production, and our dairy herd stands at about 66 000, reflecting an increase of about 13.4 percent within the period of the strategic plan for the agricultural sector,” Prof Jiri said.
Despite these achievements, he said, challenges persist such as unpredictable weather patterns, high feed costs, limited access to markets and finance.
“Government is committed to addressing these challenges through various initiatives which aim to support dairy farmers and enhance the overall competitiveness of the sector. Initiatives will include the implementation of the resilient African feed and fodder systems project, supporting the residential silage signage scheme, increasing input packages for small scale dairy farmers, engaging with financial institutions to develop tailor-made financing frameworks, the issuance of title deeds to farmers for land ownership and collateral purposes, supporting public-private sector partnership models, and the recapitalisation of the dairy revitalisation fund,” Prof Jiri said.
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