As part of its contribution to boost raw milk supply, Dairibord recently embarked on a heifer importation scheme wherein the company imported 250 heifers in the first phase. The heifers were allocated to selected 10 dairy farmers under a loan scheme arrangement with Dairibord.

The heifers were distributed among the Dairibord Holdings suppliers of milk in Manicaland, the Midlands and Harare. Each farmer received a total of 25 heifers. Farmers with existing dairy operations were selected in an attempt to grow their current milk production levels.

Zimbabwe now has about 24,000 dairy cows down from 104,000 in 2002.This has created the demand-supply gap for milk in the country.