Inspiring - 28year Old Dakarai receives 30 Dairy Cows From Nestle To Boost His Dairy Farm

Zimbabwe has seen a surge in fresh milk importation due to shortage in the country which culminated from land redistribution exercise , which saw many dairy farmers (White Farmers) , loosing there farms to landless Zimbabweans. As of 2011 there has been an improvement in milk supplies to shops around the country , all credit to Dendairy , Dairyboard , Gushungo Dairy and many more small scall players like Dakarai Mapuranga.

Assuming each dairy cow produces a minimum of 20Kgs of milk (Yes I said 20Kgs, I know we are used to litres), then 30 dairy cows will produce 600Kgs of milk per day. And if Dairyboard or Nestle buys the milk at , lets say $0.50 from the farmer. That farmer is making a cool $300 per day . And further assume that the costs per day , labour , feeds ,Vet Consultaions ,Drugs etc is $100. Then one can easily make $6000 profit per month.

Read story below published by Daily News.........


Fifteen small-scale farmers from Headlands in Manicaland Province, have benefited from the Nestlé Zimbabwe dairy empowerment scheme.
The development was inspired by the success of a partnership between 28-year-old Dakarai Mapuranga and Nestlé.
Last week, Mapuranga received an additional 30 dairy cows from Nestlé while the surrounding small-scale farmers received a beast each to kick start their projects.
Speaking to NewsDay after a tour of his project, Mapuranga said in February this year he bought 20 heifers at $1 700 each to complement his herd.
He was targeting to have put in place a herd of 100 dairy cows to start operating as a large-scale commercial dairy farmer by the end of the year.
“Currently we have a piggery,” Mapuranga said.
“We are also growing vegetables for OK Zimbabwe and TM supermarkets, but we hope to finalise the agreement to supply vegetables to all other shops in Manicaland Province.”
He said he abandoned wheat production as a result of late payments by the Grain Marketing Board (GMB).
“I haven’t been paid for the 2006 maize that l delivered to GMB and it doesn’t make sense to send more,” Mapuranga said.
Nestlé Zimbabwe managing director Kumbirai Katsande said Nestlé Zimbabwe would assist Mapuranga in setting up a dairy parlour, milk chilling tanks and fodder production, which is the key infrastructure required to run a successful project.
The firm would also chip in with assistance for the daily upkeep of the cows.
“In full scale production the farm will be able to produce close to 75 000 litres of milk per month,” Munetsi said.
He said the empowerment programme was extended to 15 other small-scale farmers around Mapuranga’s farm as part of a model to ensure that the small-scale farmers would become satellites to the commercial dairy operations.
Any milk excess to their household requirements would be brought to the milk collection and chilling centre located on Mapuranga’s farm.
Small-scale farmers and staff from Mhandara farm would receive intensive dairy farming lessons from Nestlé’s agriculture services department in collaboration with ARDA Nyarungu Training Centre in Harare South.
Last year, Nestlé bought 200 dairy cows from South Africa through a $14 million investment aimed at reviving the country’s battered dairy industry.
National milk production is currently estimated at 50 million litres per year from 40 000 dairy cows.
At the height of the country’s peak economic performance, just before the turn of the millennium, milk production topped 260 million litres per year.