ESWATINI DAIRY INDUSTRY WORTH OVER E1BN

MBABANE – The country’s dairy sector presents a number of opportunities for farmers and investors to exploit.

Various investment opportunities in all the stages of the value chain are exposed and yet to be exploited. This is highlighted in the overview of the country’s dairy for the past year. The overview report has been prepared by the Eswatini Dairy Board. “The dairy industry in the country when calculated is worth over E1 billion Emalangeni (US $865 million). This is inclusive of the values of imports, local milk produced, dairy farm establishments, and value of dairy products processed in the country,” reads the report in part.

projected

With a robust investment in the dairy sector, the projected figures, especially imports, may decline with a significant increase in domestic production and job opportunities. Other opportunities are available in feed manufacture, which include hay making and dairy feed manufacturing.  The industry boasts various investment opportunities and encourages investment into the industry. The dairy industry in Eswatini consists of a number of industry role-players which includes farmers (smallholder, medium and large-scale dairy farmers), processors, distributors, retailers, and consumers. In addition, there are also importers, exporters and transistors of dairy products.

Meanwhile, consumption of dairy products is currently estimated to be 88.44 million litres as of 2020.  About 76.6 per cent of the dairy products consumed in the country come through imports and the remainder is produced locally. Domestic production continues to fall short of the rising demand for dairy products in the country.  However, domestic production increased over the last five years and is currently at 20.68 million litres in 2020 which represents 23.4 per cent of total consumption. The dairy imports recorded in 2020 stood at 67.76 million litres compared to 65.81 million litres in 2019. There is a discrepancy between the supply and demand of milk in the country due to the ever increasing consumption of milk and its products.

“The board’s strategic initiatives are therefore tailored towards closing this gap and increasing the production capacity of milk within the country,” shared EDB. The local dairy market is said to be still boasting a lot of potential which needs to be exploited. Emasi (sour milk) is one of the main products produced locally. Emasi are also imported in high quantities, which demonstrates the availability of a market that is yet to be exploited. The value of imported dairy products increased again in the year 2020 (E499.10 million) by over 2.5 per cent compared to 2019 (E486.52 million). The increase in value is attributed to import price increase and shifting consumption pattern of dairy products towards high value products like cheese, yoghurt, dairy juices and so on and this is also indicative of the lucrative nature of the local dairy market that is yet to be exploited by investors coming into the industry.

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