Investment Opportunities in Botswana’s Dairy Value Chain
The dairy sector in Botswana faces many challenges, which presents farmers, processors and investors with many investment opportunities on which to capitalise.
One of the challenges facing the dairy sector in Botswana is the need to increase the national dairy herd. This can be achieved by employing assisted reproductive technologies, such as embryo transfers, artificial insemination and the importation of cows.
The dairy industry in Botswana is in its infancy. Dairy enterprises are categorized into small-, medium- and large-scale operations. Local milk production is 15% of national consumer demand, meaning that 85% of liquid milk is imported.
Annual national milk demand is about 65 million litres. Average milk production per cow per day is around 16 litres. There are four major milk pasteurising plants in Botswana, including Clover, Parmalat, Foods Botswana and Sally Dairies. There are also small-scale pasteurisers in areas such as Maun, Palapye, Gantsi and Molepolole.
Other challenges that the dairy industry faces include recurrent droughts; outbreaks of disease; inadequate and expensive dairy feeds; unskilled labour; limited land for dairy farming; and an undeveloped value chain.
Investment opportunities exist in Botswana’s dairy value chain such as in:
- Milk production.
- Heifer production.
- Fodder production.
- Milk products processing e.g. cheese, butter, yoghurt, sour milk, cream, fresh milk, UHT
To Be Updated…
