Milk association cherishes Feed the Future Project
The Malawi Milk Producers Association (MMPA) has commended the USaid-funded Feed the Future Integrating Nutrition in Value Chain (Invc) project, which has helped to increase selling price of milk and reduce cost of production, among other benefits.
MMPA national director Hebert Chagona said on Friday in Lilongwe the project, whose implementation started in September 2013 and phased out on September 30 2014, was implemented in Dedza and Dowa.
He said five milk bulking groups (MBGs) of Nathenje, Machite, Magomero, Lumbadzi and Nkhweza were targeted during the implementation period.
“Some key results from this project is that milk consumption, which has seen most dairy households consuming an average of two litres of milk per day and, in addition, most communities around the five MBGs are now consuming bigger volumes of milk,” said Chagona after visiting some milk producers within Traditional Authority (T/A) Mazengera in Lilongwe on Friday.
He said the Invc dairy value chain project has also resulted in increased sales of surplus milk to processors per month unlike prior to the project.
Chagona said milk production has increased from less than 20 000 liters to 52 640 litres per month in the five MBGs, representing 38 percent increase due to artificial insemination campaign, which he said has also increased the number of lactating cows in the MBGs.
On pricing, he said the selling pricing of milk has increased from K100 to K130 per litre due to continued negotiations within milk processors, which was one key strategy for the project.
“We have also seen reduced cost of milk production through adoption and use of cost effective technologies such as home-made dip, mineral blocks and dairy mash.
Chagona touted the project for increased uptake or adoption of improved technologies such as artificial insemination, pregnancy diagnosis, good housing, feed formulation and feed preservation.
He also said by now, all the five MBGs have strengthened their capacities as they now have functional milk cooling facilities and their leaders trained in good governance and bankable business plans.
One of the beneficiaries of the phased-out project, Kamvakukwelera Gwengwe from Chiowa Village, said in an interview the project has helped him to increase income at household level through selling of milk.
