Mchinji Dairy Cooperative mechanizes feed making with AGCOM

Milk production is expected to tremendously increase at Mchinji Dairy Cooperative following the procurement of three chuff cutting and grain crushing machines with support from the Agricultural Commercialization (AGCOM) Project.

The machines will help to produce enough, palatable and nutritious feed tor the farmers’ dairy cattle, a development that will increase daily milk output of the animals.

Chairman of the cooperative, Mr. Clement Mayeso Banda, says the cooperative decided to mechanize the production of animal feed to make sure that they produce enough and nutritious feed for their dairy cattle in order to achieve increased milk production.

“We decided to buy the machines for animal feed production to ensure that we feed our cattle adequately with feed that is palatable and nutritious. When we throw maize stalks in the animal kraal, not all is eaten, but with this machine, all will be eaten because it is milled into powder. Well fed cattle drink more water give more milk as a result,” he explained.

The cooperative has 453 registered members with over 300 animals. It expects to increase milk production from 60,000 to 260,000 litres of milk a month following the increase in number of the animals and the production of feed using the machines procured. 

According to the chairman of Mchinji Dairy Cooperative, the matching grant support from AGCOM Project will help the farmers to meet the demand of milk by their off-taker, Lilongwe Dairy.

AGCOM has also supported the cooperative with capacity building in financial management, procurement, and resource mobilization.

“We have been trained on how to maintain our financial records and how to manage procurement process,” said Mr. Banda.

The cooperative recently received MK19.2 million from AGCOM as first tranche of the MK119 million they are receiving from the project under matching grant. In the first tranche the cooperative has managed to procure the three machines, 40 dairy cattle which have already been distributed to members and they are constructing two milk bulking centres at Ludzi and Mikundi business centers.

When finished, the bulking centers will assist to reduce the distance which the farmers travel to deliver their milk for collection by their off-taker. The centers are also expected to increase the membership of the cooperative as more farmers residing close to the centers are likely to join the cooperative.