Uvhungu-Vhungu dairy delayed for three years

KAYENGONA – Residents of Uvhungu-Vhungu area outside Rundu, who have been demanding the reopening of the dairy farm, will have to wait another three years before they can buy locally produced milk again.

The Uvhungu-Vhungu project suspended the supply of milk to local people, hospitals and schools after the dairy section was closed in 2009 for renovations. Since the closure of the dairy section, the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Forestry has been developing a turnaround strategy for the dairy section.A feasibility study has been completed, the implementation plan was submitted to Cabinet and is awaiting budget approval.An engineer in the ministry, Norman Bishi, told President Hifikepunye Pohamba during his visit to the project on Friday that the dairy section will take three years to revamp at a cost of N$185 million. Bishi said the revamped dairy section will consist of a milking parlour, animal kraal and animal shade as well as a processing plant. The dairy section will be able to house up to 750 cows, and the cows will also be fed there because special feed will be grown in the area.Regarding the marketing of the milk, Bishi said the ministry will ensure that all the milk produced at Uvhungu-Vhungu will be bought by schools in the region.Once completed, the dairy section will require 150 permanent employees to function fully.Meanwhile, the dairy cows from the Uvhungu-Vhungu farm, which were relocated to the Mashare Agricultural Development Institute in the Kavango Region in 2009, were sold to Meatco late last year. The dairy cows were slaughtered because they were reportedly unproductive and dying in large numbers. – Nampa