MILK stakeholders are revisiting the rationale of importing milk despite the country having an ample dairy sector.
The minister Luhaga Mpina, immediately ordered to reassess the importation of milk estimated at between 50 and 100 million kilogrammes a year.
Mr Mpina doubted that the importation could be a plot to kill local dairy industries. “Reassessment should be done, I can’t believe that this country needs to import milk… this must be a business for individuals’ interests aimed at killing local industries,” Mr Mpina said. He queried, “…who has done research to find out that Tanzania needed to import milk?” The minister instructed the Ministry Permanent Secretary, Dr Maria Mashingo and the Tanzania Dairy Board (TDB) to do an assessment on the importation.
He gave the assessors two weeks to come up with findings that will enable the government to revisit its plan and increase milk production for self-sufficient. Mr Mpina also worries that there was huge importation of the milk without licence, which is against the law.
He sent warning statement to business community who import animal products, particularly milk, illegally to stop immediately otherwise risk their properties being confiscated. Data, according to the Minister Mpina, milk processing factories have a total production capacity of 672,000 litres per year, but receive merely 155,000 litres a year from dairy farmers.
The Ministry PS, Dr Mashingo said the government values the contribution of the private sector in the livestock keeping, calling on other stakeholders to come forward in supporting and improving the sector. Representative of the KOM Group of Companies, which deals with animal keeping, promised to continue adding value to the milk in order to boost lives of the livestock keepers
No comments :
Post a Comment