The Zimbabwe unit of Switzerland-based Nestle Co. is acquiring 4,000 heifers which will be distributed to dairy farmers to help increase output. The acquisition is part of the $14 million-five year dairy empowerment scheme which began two years ago. The Zimbabwean dairy herd has fallen from 192,000 head in 2000 to just under 26,000 as milk production has fallen to less than half the country’s demand of approximately 120 million liters. Nestle’s milk processing plant has a capacity of 150,000 liters per day however the plant receives between 25,000 and 30,000 liters of milk from dairy farms every two days. In the past three years Nestle has invested $20 million in upgrading equipment, completed a new laboratory, an administration center, and two silos to store glucose. Within weeks the company plans to resume production of its Milo and Nido brands and resume exportation to Malawi and Zambia.
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