By Njodzeka Kernyuy
The Minister of Livestock, Fisheries and Animal Industries, Dr Taiga, has donated a consignment of dairy equipment to farmers in the Adamawa region in view of curtailing Cameroon’s reliance on imported milk.
This was during a ceremony that was held in the capital, Ngaoundéré, recently.
The Minister, while handing over the equipment, which consisted of milk churning equipment, cream separators, 20-litre milk cans, shredding or grinding plant forage harvesters and milking machines, among others, exhorted them to make good use of it.
The objective, according to Dr Taiga, is to empower them to produce fresh milk capable of satisfying the home demand.
Modern Milk Factory Inaugurated
Aside from donating to Adamawa dairy farmers, he also inaugurated an ultra modern high temperature milk production chain in Mardock, Ngoundere.
The new dairy factory is capable of producing over 5,000 litres of milk daily.
Even at that, it is still below the demand at home.
Cameroon imports 18,000 tonnes of milk yearly, said Dr Taiga, who strongly encouraged the consumption of home-produced milk.
He enjoined actors in the dairy sector to put hands on deck to ensure a huge production of milk so as to enable the UHT milk production chain function properly.
The main objective of the Ministry of Livestock Fisheries and Animal Industries, he stated, is to promote the establishment of dairy farms, which has been successfully done in the Adamawa, West, East, North and Far North regions of the country.
He assured dairy farmers of the government’s relentless support, elaborating on a development plan crafted for the dairy sector.
Dr Taiga cited the exoneration of taxes on all imported equipment and material and the putting in place of the inter-professional of dairy farmers and equipment to effectively carry out the task.
The Ultra High Temperature Milk Production Chain was created in 2015 with other modern dairy farms in Ngaoundere under the COOP KOSSAM.
In 2018, they went industrial with the aim of producing fresh milk for the locality; 500 litres of milk were produced and marketed during that period, according to the Ministry.
In 2020, 2,000 litres were produced with the arrival of the Montbéliard cows.