Milk production potential, marketing and income opportunities in key traditional cattle keeping areas of Zambia

C Mumba, G S Pandey and C van der Jagt*

University of Zambia, School of Veterinary Medicine, Department of Disease Control, Box 32379, Lusaka, Zambia
cmumba@unza.zm ; sulemumba@yahoo.com
* Netherlands Development Organisation (SNV Zambia), Box 31771, Lusaka, Zambia

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to estimate milk production potential and addressing the interventions related to improving production, animal husbandry practices and milk marketing in key traditional cattle keeping areas of Zambia. The emphasis was on collecting information regarding; an estimation of number of cattle owning households, cattle numbers, herd structure, seasonal cattle movements, current milk production volumes, what households do with their current milk, adoption rates of good animal husbandry practices including herd health, veterinary input supply and extension service provision from the key traditional cattle keeping areas. Data used to achieve these objectives was obtained using detailed focus group discussions and interview-based questionnaires from several stakeholders.

The 15 selected districts had a total population of 1,162,645 traditional cattle, owned by 116,265 households, with an average of 10 cattle per household. Milk production from the these districts was estimated at 57.5 million litres per annum out of which 3.7 million litres go into the formal sector through established milk collection centres. The current monetary value of milk sales in the informal sector is estimated at US$ 12 million per year. However, if all this milk was to be brought into the formal sector, there is a potential of realising a monetary value of US$ 27.6 million per year among the 116,265 rural households within the study areas. The estimated total volume of milk available which can easily be brought into the formal sector through construction of additional milk collection centres in the identified potential areas is about 11.9 million litres per annum, which is about 27% of the current volume of milk being processed in Zambia. This will result to income generation of about US$ 5.7 million annually among the the rural poor farmers in the 24 recommended sites for milk collection centers in 13 of the 15 selected districts. In addition, mopping of milk from the above sites and its processing will create an additional employment of about 2,400 on-farm jobs among the youths in rural areas. There is need for the processors, government, donors and investors to develop market through establishment of milk collection centers.

Keywords: employment, income generation, lost milk, traditional cattle keepers

Introduction

The cattle industry is by far the most important component of the Zambian livestock sector, from an economic and cultural perspective. The Government of the Republic of Zambia promotes economic growth and job creation to reduce the high levels of poverty in the country, by developing a more competitive and diversified economy. The dairy sub-sector has the potential to contribute to these developmental goals.

In Zambia, there are approximately 3,000–4,000 dedicated smallholder and commercial dairy farmers who produce milk for the formal market, using pure and cross breed dairy cattle (ACF 2012). However, there are about 300,000 traditional cattle-owning households whose cattle also produce milk (World Bank 2010). The behaviour of traditional cattle farmers differs significantly from those of commercial farmers and is influenced by social and cultural factors. For example, there is a tendency to view cattle as a store of wealth and a means of subsistence and draught power, rather than as a commercial business opportunity.

Approximately 80% of the national cattle herd estimated to be over 3 million cattle is in the hands of traditional farmers who are much less productive with calving rate 50%, calf mortality 20-30%, adult mortality 5%, off-take rate 8-9%, live weight 200-250 kg and growth 2% than commercial farmers (Neven at al 2006, World Bank 2010). A large portion of the milk produced by these farmers does not enter formal markets.

It is estimated that out of a total national production of 253 million litres of milk, only 44 million litres passes through formal market channels (ACF 2012). A substantial portion of raw milk, mostly produced by the traditional cattle keepers, does not reach the formal market. This milk, sometimes referred to as ‘lost milk’, is either consumed or sold locally in unprocessed or fermented form, or wasted.

Many traditional cattle owning households fall outside the catchment area of the existing network of milk collection centres and processing plants which are mainly along the line of rail. This network basically follows the main road from the Copperbelt down towards Livingstone, and does not really extend into the rural milk shed areas where much of the ‘lost’ milk is found.

Dairy processors in Zambia are facing a shortfall in the supply of raw milk due to a growing domestic demand for dairy products. They are not utilising their current processing capacity to its full potential. Most processors are below 59% capacity utilisation (ACF, 2012). Processors’ demand for raw milk has increased in recent times and has resulted in a dependence on milk powder imports to compensate for the deficit. This also puts pressure on Zambia to allow imports of cheaper and poor quality fresh milk from other countries. In order to become more competitive and meet the growing demand for dairy products, processors need to access substantially larger volumes of raw milk to achieve the benefits of economies of scale. Processors are therefore keen to tap the so-called ‘lost milk’ from the traditional sector, but lack the data on locations and potential milk volumes needed to make informed investment decisions with regard to expanding the network of chilling, procuring and processing facilities.

There is ample scope for traditional cattle keeping households to increase the monetary benefits they derive from their cattle. For effective interventions to be designed to increase milk, productivity, and market access, information is needed from key cattle areas describing the current and potential situation, and making recommendations, related to improving production, animal husbandry practices and marketing in order to increase income, reduce poverty, create employment and ensure food security and encourage agriculture diversification.

The purpose of the study was therefore to estimate current milk production volumes, to assess what happens with this milk and to determine how milk production in the traditional cattle farming sector can yield higher economic returns for farmers while also addressing the deficit in raw milk supply to the domestic dairy processing industry.

Methodology

Study design, technique and description of study sites

A cross sectional study design employing both quantitative and qualitative data collection techniques were used. Purposive sampling was used to obtain the data from district veterinary officers/livestock officers, dairy cooperatives and farmers in four provinces namely; Southern, Lusaka, Western and Central provinces. These were chosen purposively based on their large cattle population and already existing smallholder dairy activities. The districts purposively selected included; Kafue, Mazabuka, Monze, Choma, Kalomo, Namwala, Mumbwa, Chongwe, Itezhi-Tezhi, Kaoma, Mongu, Senanga, Chibombo, Kabwe and Mkushi as shown in figure 1.

Figure 1: Map of Zambia showing study districts (shaded green).

Existing milk collection centres (15), district veterinary/ livestock / camp officers (39), Dairy Association of Zambia (1), input suppliers (4), dairy processors (3) and farmers (560) provided primary information on the current and potential milk volumes produced and marketed by traditional cattle owning households in the 15 selected districts.

Data collection instruments

Interview-based questionnaires / data collection sheets were administered to district veterinary officers and managers of the existing milk collection centres (MCC) within the study areas to provide primary information about possible interventions in the traditional dairy sub-sector to improve production, animal husbandry practices, animal health and marketing.

Physical observations [with regards to access to electricity, road network, water, access to processor, distance to existing milk collection centres (MCCs), local milk market, presence of livestock service centres etc] of potential locations for establishing additional milk collection centres were made during this study. Meetings with farmer groups coming from within a radius of about 30 km from suggested locations of MCCs and veterinary/camp officers were held in form of focus group discussions to assess the possibility of required interventions, farmer’s interest and their possible contribution. The role of other players like Dairy Association of Zambia (DAZ), dairy processors, veterinary input suppliers currently taking place towards dairy production was also assessed.

Calculation of monetary returns from the sale of milk

Current income generated from milk sales that is going into the informal sector and potential income if milk was to come in the formal sector were calculated using the formula in equation 1;

MR= TNC_L x AvMp x LP x AvPr..........................Equation SEQ Equation \* ARABIC 1

Where: MR= annual monetary return/year from the sale of milk

TNC_L= total number of cows in lactation per year

AvMp= average milk production per day

LP= lactation period which is 150 days

AvPr= average price of milk which is US$ 0.23/L informal market and US$ 0.48/L in formal market.

Results and Discussion

Production, income and job creation

Table 1 indicates that the 15 selected districts have a total population of 1,162,645 traditional cattle (39% of the total national herd of 3,000,000 cattle according to World Bank, 2010). The total cattle owning household was 116,267 owning an average of 10 cattle per household. Milk production from the 15 districts was estimated at 57,521,087 litres per annum out of which 3,633,272 litres go into the formal sector through established MCCs. The current monetary value of milk sales in the informal sector is US$ 12,076,217 per year. However, if all this milk was to be brought into the formal sector, there is a potential of realising a monetary value of US$ 27,610,122 per year among the 116,267 rural potential beneficiaries within the catchment areas.

Table 2 indicates that a substantial amount of milk can be obtained even from traditional cattle farmers to support the demand of raw milk in the country and enhance the utilization capacity of milk processors. The estimated total volume of milk available from the 24 potential locations in 13 of the 15 districts will be about 11,884,400 litres per year, which translates to about 27 % of the current volume of milk being processed. The two districts namely; Mkushi and Chongwe did not meet the requirement for establishment of additional MCCs due to low cattle population within the catchment areas. Mopping of the above volume of milk will result into money transfer of about US$ 5,713,654 annually among 15,544 cattle (average of US$ 368 per household) owning households in the rural poor farming community. Furthermore, a total of 2,400 jobs could be created (FAO 2010).

Table 1: Estimated volume of milk produced and monetary value when sold formally or informally in 15 districts of Zambia
District	No. Cattle	Households	Cows/Heifers	Cows	Milk/Day(L)	Milk/Yr (L)	Informal Value ($)	Formal Value ($)
Mkushi	9,298	930	4,454	2,895	2,895	434,250	99,878	208,440
Kafue	32,370	3,237	15,200	9,880	9,880	1,482,000	34,0860	711,360
Kabwe	34,598	3,460	16,520	10,738	10,738	1,610,700	37,0461	773,136
Chibombo	70,000	7,000	35,000	22,750	22,750	3,412,500	78,4875	1,638,000
Mumbwa	103,067	10,307	51,444	33,439	33,439	5,015,790	11,536,32	2,407,579
Mazabuka	89,482	8,948	42,000	27,300	27,300	4,095,000	941,850	1,965,600
Monze	143,000	14,300	74,000	48,100	48,100	7,215,000	1,659,450	3,463,200
Choma	141,501	14,150	73,000	47,450	47,450	7,117,500	1,637,025	3,416,400
Namwala	123,016	12,302	68,287	44,387	44,387	6,657,983	1,531,336	3,195,832
Kaoma	26,270	2,627	13,125	8,531	8,531	1,279,688	294,328	614,250
Senanga	80,000	8,000	39,855	25,906	25,906	3,885,863	893,748	1,865,214
Mongu	60,685	6,069	30,342	19,722	19,722	2,958,345	680,419	1,420,006
Kalomo	140,925	14,093	77,227	50,198	50,198	7,529,633	1,731,815	3,614,224
Itezhi Tezhi	82,065	8,207	37,674	24,488	24,488	3,673,215	844,839	1,763,143
Chongwe	26,368	2,637	11,832	7,691	7,691	1,153,620	265,333	553,738
TOTAL	1,162,645	116,267	589,960	383,475	383,475	57,521 ,087	12,076,217	27,610,122
The number of cows and heifers was obtained from district reports. Assuming 50% of the cows are lactating, producing an average of two (2) litres per day during a lactation period of 150 days per year. Average price of milk in the informal market was US$ 0.23 per litre and in the formal market it was US$ 0.48 per litre. The number of cattle-owning households was obtained by dividing the number of cattle by 10 (Mumba et al, 2011).

Table 2: Recommended locations for potential MCCs and estimated potential milk volumes available from traditional cattle
District	Potential MCC location	No. Households	No. Cattle	Cows & heifers	Current milk Production /day (L)	Milk potential / day (L)
Kalomo	Mukwela	522	7,833	4,768	150	800
Choma	Mapanza	449	4,041	2,226	160	750
Namwala	Namwala	520	9,206	5,394	1500	2,500
	Kabulamwanda	1944	19,449	13,664	800	2,500
	Chitongo	960	13,883	7,744	500	2,800
Monze	Munyenze	1002	12,870	7,722	1,200	2,500
	Kayuni	600	8,580	5,148	800	1,500
	Kaumba	352	7,500	4,100	300	700
Mazabuka	Itebe	1006	20,120	12,072	1,000	2,500
Kafue	Chipapa	92	2,620	1,505	250	600
Chibombo	Shimukuni	466	7,000	3,500	250	500
	Chipembi	666	9,360	6,000	800	1,500
	Chikumbi	210	4, 116	2066	200	800
Kabwe	Munyama	318	3,189	1,700	400	1,000
Mumbwa	Shibuyunji	1,980	18,201	10,530	600	2,000
	Mumbwa	990	8,893	3,900	500	1,200
	Nangoma	831	8,317	3,522	600	1,100
Kaoma	K/ central	751	3,818	1,949	300	700
	Shimano	702	4,231	2,743	250	600
Mongu	Lealui	328	8,063	3,300	800	2,000
	Namushakende	95	6,682	2,870	250	800
	Sefula	210	3,000	1,600	250	1,000
Senanga	Muoyo	400	3,813	2,000	400	1,000
Itezhi-Tezhi	Itezhi-Tezhi	150	6,500	3,900	300	800
		15,544	197,169	113,923	12,560	32,150

Assessment of milk utilization

All the farmers interviewed reported that they milk their local cows only once in a day. The calves remain with cows during day time and during night time they are separated and cows are then milked in the next morning. They reported that they do not milk all the cows since it is not possible to sell all the milk due to the absence of market. From the estimated milk production of 57.5 million litres per annum, 3.6 million litres (6.3%) reach the formal sector through established milk collection centres (MCCs). It was estimated that 21.9 million litres (37.5%) was sold informally, 16.1 million litres (28.1%) was used domestically, and 16.1 million litres (28.1%) is wasted or thrown. Some farmers reported that a part of milk is given to relatives and neighbours as a gift. A number of farmers also reported that milk was being thrown when it becomes too bitter after long duration of souring. It was not possible to assess how much milk was thrown away in each area by each farmer but it was quite clear from the group discussions that wastage of about 28% of the milk in the absence of markets is quite significant.

Animal husbandry practices

Seasonal migration of cattle

Seasonal migration of cattle in search of pasture and water is quite common in large parts of Zambia, particularly on the flood plains of the Kafue and Zambezi River. Around 30% of the cattle populations in Monze and Mazabuka migrate each year, while as much as 70-85% of the cattle herds in Mumbwa, Itezhi Tezhi, Namwala, Mongu, and Senanga move down to the flood plains each year. This normally happens around June/July when grazing and water availability is poor in the upland areas due to high stocking densities. The cattle return upland when the water starts flooding in mid-January. The flood plains offer good grazing areas and water for animals, but the mingling of animals from different villages encourages disease transmission. The flood plains are heavily infested with snails harbouring liver flukes to the cattle causing a parasitic disease called fasciolosis which is responsible for reduced milk yields, poor weight gain and poor reproductive performance.

Milk marketing becomes difficult when the animals are in the flood plains. Distance and accessibility makes it hard for farmers to transport their milk to the market. Similarly, animal health control strategies, like establishing community animal health and market facilities, become unattainable. When pasture is scarce in the upland areas due to high concentrations of animals, it causes the animals to lose weight. Moving animals from the flood plain to the upland areas precipitates diseases like haemorrhagic septicaemia, black leg and anthrax.

Animal health

The rate of adoption of good animal health and production practices differs from place to place, depending on the availability of animal husbandry infrastructure, inputs and services, as well as the educational and economic status of farmers and the presence of commercial farmers in the vicinity. In general, the more remote the area (e.g. flood plains), the lower the adoption rate of good practice and the higher the educational and economic status of farmers, the higher the likelihood of adopting good practices. Young farmers tend to adopt improved animal husbandry practices more readily than older farmers. Table 3 shows the adoption rates of various animal health practices.

The adoption rate of good animal husbandry practices is still low. On average, 36% of farmers observe the recommended dipping, 2% deworming and 26% vaccination regimes. Supplementary feeding and efficient crop residue utilisation is hardly practiced by traditional farmers. The reasons for low adoption rates are poor provision of extension services, expensive or unavailable veterinary drugs and vaccines nearby and long distances to veterinary input suppliers, who are mainly in Lusaka. It appears that some farmers still believe that all of these services should be provided by the government, free of charge, as it was during the first republic regime. Vaccination against diseases of economic importance like Contagious Bovine Pleura-Pneumonia (CBPP), East Cost Fever (ECF) and Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) is done by the Government.

Veterinary input supply and extension services

Veterinary services are provided by the government and the private sector. Government veterinarians are mainly involved in monitoring and controlling diseases, but can be hired for private services at a reasonable price. The government has also trained para-veterinarians and technicians to offer artificial insemination services. However, government veterinarians and para-veterinarians are not always available to meet the farmers' needs.

Veterinary Assistants (VAs) provide basic services to farmers at veterinary camp level. In those camps where VAs are provided with housing and transport, they play an important role in animal health and production extension services. In veterinary camps such as Chitongo, Niko, Namwala, Limununga, Senanga, Chipembi and Muoyo, VAs provide extension services to the full satisfaction of farmers, because they are housed within their camp areas. However, in several other camps, VAs are housed far away or out of their areas of operation.

The number of private veterinarians specialising and practicing in cattle production is low. The result is that private veterinary services are expensive, with call-out charges around US$ 250 or more (World Bank, 2010). These high costs are prohibitive for all but the wealthiest commercial farmers.

Veterinary input supplies are far from satisfactory in most of the 15 districts. Only five stores were found to be reasonably stocked in Kaoma, Namwala, Choma, Monze and Mumbwa, however, most of the staff in these stores, except in Mumbwa, were found to have poor dispensing abilities.

Alternative models for raw milk marketing

The current scenario of collecting raw milk from each MCC and from commercial dairy farmers by the processors is working satisfactory and seems to be a correct model as seen in many other countries in the region (ACF 2012). However, this model has a heavy dependence on processors ability to collect the milk. In order to encourage milk production, traditional cattle farmers have to be involved in commercial dairy activities and raw milk marketing. This will also help competition among dairy cooperatives to improve and maintain good quality milk since processors in Zambia pay incentives on hygienic milk quality basis (Food and Drug Act 2001).

In those traditional cattle keeping areas where the milk production potential is good but an area cannot easily be accessed by processors based in Lusaka, particularly in Itezhi Tezhi and Mongu, authors recommend the establishment of small-scale milk processing, packaging and local marketing.

Conclusion

Recommendations

1. Establish milk collection centres to mop up the ‘lost’ milk from accessible and viable milk shed areas in the 13 selected districts of Zambia.

2. Intensify training and retraining of farmers on improved animal husbandry practices, herd health and dairy farming-as-a-business.

3. Establish small-scale milk processing, packaging and local marketing facilities in those traditional cattle keeping areas where milk production potential is good but accessibility by processors is problematic or economically less viable.

4. Establish livestock service centres that can stock veterinary inputs that are accessible to farmers at affordable costs.

6. Establish agro-vet stores, run at camp level by trained community livestock workers or veterinary assistants (VAs), through access to a loan facility.

Acknowledgement

The authors are grateful to Mr. Jean de Matha Ouédraogo- the Country Director, Netherlands Development Organisation (SNV-Zambia) for funding the study and permission to publish this paper. We are thankful to all other stakeholders in the dairy subsector who contributed towards successful completion of this study.

References

ACF 2012 Agricultural Consultative Forum; Performance and competitiveness of the dairy value chain in Zambia. Volume 1, issue #2.

Food and Drug Act 2001 The food and drugs act, chapter 303 of the laws of Zambia. Statutory instrument # 90 of 2001.

Mumba C, Samui K L, Pandey G S, Hang’ombe B M, Simuunza M, Tembo G and Muliokela S W 2011. Economic analysis of the viability of smallholder dairy farming in Zambia. Livestock Research for Rural Development. Volume 23, Article #137. http://www.lrrd.org/lrrd23/6/mumb23137.html.

Neven D, Katjiuongua H, Adjosoediro I, Reardon T, Chuzu P, Tembo G and Ndiyoi M 2006 Food sector transformation and standards in Zambia: Smallholder farmer participation and growth in the dairy sector. Staff paper #18, pp 30.

World Bank 2010 Jobs, prosperity and competitiveness: what would it take for the cattle industry to achieve its potential? A final report. Sponsored by World Bank, DFID and AfDB