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SECTION III (Contd.)

DEVELOPMENT AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR MARKET ORIENTED SMALLHOLDER DAIRY PRODUCTION IN ZIMBABWE NHARIRA/LANCASHIRE CASE STUDY
Mr B. Mupeta17 Abstract Zimbabwe has a dualistic dairy marketing and production system, with a fairly sophisticated commercial dairy farming sector and a smallholder dairy sector which mostly produces milk for the informal market. Commercial dairying started in Zimbabwe as early as 1912 and in 1932 the Dairy Act as well as the Dairy Marketing Board (now the Dairy Zimbabwe Limited) were established. In the post independence era the Zimbabwean government has focused on enhancing productivity of the smallholder dairy sector through the initiatives of the Dairy Development Programme but it has been hindered by various problems. Research has therefore been initiated to identify the problems as well as find solutions. This paper gives an outline of a baseline survey that was initiated to investigate appropriate breeds to match available resources and management levels, investigate growth potential of the progeny from crossbreds cows for meat and draught and investigate efficient utilization of protein from various sources for milk production. The baseline survey established that crossbreds animals on average have greater potential to match the management levels and limited feed resources within the smallholder sectors but indigenous breeds are however, more capable of utilizing law quality forage than exotic and crossbreds.
17 Dairy Research Scientist, Henderson Research Station, Mazow e, Zimbabw e

1.0 Background 1.1 Pre-Independence Era: Commercial dairy production in Zimbabwe started as far back as 1912. However, due to preindependence policies of separate development which catered mainly for the commercial farming sector dairying was exclusively a prerogative of the Large Scale Commercial farmers who produced milk on commercial lines in order to satisfy the national needs of the country. The infrastructure was so designed to supply milk and milk by-products to the urban population which account for 30% of the country's population. Consequently dairies to handle liquid milk, production
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Proceedings of the Workshop on the Regional Exchange Network for Market Orient Dairy Development

of butter, cheese and other dairy products were located around major towns of Bulawayo, Gweru, Kadoma, Harare, Mutare and Chipinge. The Dairy Act (1932) and Dairy Marketing Board (DMB) (1952) (now Dairiboard Zimbabwe Limited-DZL) were established to ensure an organized and orderly development of the dairy industry. DMB was a parastatal which was established under the Act of Parliament. DMB lacked the infrastructure and distributive capacity to supply milk and its byproducts to the rural population which accounts for over 70% of the country's population. However, the DZL is now in the process of being privatised in line with the current economic situation. 1.2 Post Independence: After 1980 the Government of Zimbabwe expressed its commitment to the development of the smallholder sector (communal, resettlement and small scale commercial) while maintaining production in the Large Scale Sector. In line with this commitment the DMB was tasked with the responsibility to initiate the development of milk production from the smallholder sector hence the formation of the Dairy Development Programme (DDP) to spear head milk production from the Smallholder areas. The funds for this purpose were generated from the Bulk Milk Collection Scheme. Commercial farmers participating in the Bulk Milk Collection Scheme leased farm tanks from DMB for which they paid rental charges. These rentals were used to finance DDP among other things. DDP now functions under the umbrella of the Agricultural Rural Development Authority (ARDA) whose operations are production than marketing oriented as was the case with DMB and therefore not in line with the new deregulatory policies. 2.0 Objectives of Developing Market Oriented Smallholder Dairy The development of market-oriented smallholder dairy was initiated in order to complement the large scale commercial dairying by extending the milk production base to the rural areas where DMB found distribution of milk and milk by-products difficulty. The specific aims are: a. To increase income by diversifying production and to improve the livelihood of smallholder farmers, where possible within the rural areas. Thus milk could be produced and distributed through an organized local marketing system in the area or district in which it is produced with surplus being sold to DZL or processed in-situ into other milk by-products. b. To have milk production to act as a development tool since pre-requisites for dairy production in new areas would automatically lead to rural development on a sound and effective basis namely; Improved livestock resource management and productivity; Improved coordination within the community; Improved infrastructure; and Speedy transfer of technology which would be farmer driven. 3.0 Constraints to Market Oriented Smallholder Dairy Development The success of the development of dairy production depends on the experience of the people involved. There was, however, no tradition among smallholder dairy farmers for the production of milk on commercial lines other than at subsistence level from cows which were kept for other functions. The smallholder dairy farmers were hindered by: Inadequate and unavailability of suitable feed for the lactating cows. In countries such as Kenya, New Zealand and other temperate zones where the climate allows for substantial
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Proceedings of the Workshop on the Regional Exchange Network for Market Orient Dairy Development

amount of milk to be produced from grass alone, Zimbabwe is unfortunate in that its harsh climatic conditions are not really ideal for dairying all year round unless provisions for conserved forages are made. Zimbabwe has 5 months of rain and the rest is dry period. There is no recommended appropriate breed of animal for market oriented milk production which matches management levels and skills of most of the smallholder farmers. Smallholder farmers normally have inadequate capital, borrowing facilities and limited resources for successful market oriented milk production. There is dearth of research information and technologies which are generated specifically for the market oriented smallholder farming systems 4.0 Research Programme A research proposal was developed by the author of this paper to study in detail the development and potential of the market-oriented dairy in the smallholder farming sector. A programme of activities started in May, 1992 with a Baseline Survey which covered all smallholder dairy schemes in Zimbabwe, existing at the time. 4.1 Objectives of the Research Programme The main objective of the study was to find solutions to the major constraints limiting increased milk and meat production on mixed crop/livestock smallholder farming systems of Zimbabwe. The specific aims of the programme were: To investigate on the appropriate breed of cattle which matches available resources and management level of the smallholder farmers. To investigate the potential of home grown crops and crop by-products as sources of energy and protein in diets of dairy animals. To investigate on the growth potential of the progeny from crossbred cows for meat and draught. To investigate the efficient utilization of protein from different sources for milk production and growth of crossbred cows and their progeny respectively. 4.2 Results of Base Line Survey and Monitoring Study Results of baseline survey showed that there was great interest and enthusiasm among farmers to embark on market oriented smallholder milk production. The average land holding per Household constituted about 3.0 ha arable, 2.0 ha fallow and 11.0 hectares of communal grazing (i.e. 16.0 ha/HH). Maize is a dominant crop in both area and yield, it is also the staple food for the people thus its use as animal feed competes with human for food. Other grain crops such as sorghum and millet are also grown but their yields are much lower than for maize. Maize and other grains are major sources of energy in dairy diets. Groundnuts and sunflower rank second to maize in production. The oilseeds and their

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