Berea, June 25 — At least 10 dairy farmers under Pilot Resource Centre in Berea district have on Thursday completed a four days training on processing of fresh milk into yoghurt and sour milk.
The training was conducted by the Lesotho National Dairy Board (LNDB) through an invitation of the Department of Agriculture, Food Security and Nutrition under Pilot Resource Centre.
Pilot Resource Centre, Area Technical Officer (ATO) Nutrition, Mrs. Matseleng Khits’ane Hloaele highlighted that many people still believe that milk can be consumed as fresh milk or sour milk alone, unaware that milk can be processed into many products.
Mrs. Hloaele further said the recently declared state of emergency of Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) sparked an outcry among dairy farmers, highlighting that they were barred from selling their milk to the dairy storage and as a result thousands of liters of milk went to waste because of the restrictions.
She said the crisis triggered by FMD forced them to invite the LNDB with the purpose to capacitate their dairy farmers with skills of processing fresh milk into yoghurt and sour milk.
She further said having milk processed into products like sour milk, yoghurt and others gives it more shelf life, and improves its value both in terms of nutrition and money.
On the other hand, Mrs. Hloaele said malnutrition still remains the major challenge faced by the country and it requires concerted efforts, therefore such processed milk products play a vital role of improving diet particularly
on zero to five years babies, and elderly people respectively.
Representing the LNDB processing department, Mr. Sechaba-se-maketse Qobolo said processing milk products is easy and it requires patience, adding that it is a very sensitive product as it has to go through ultra-high temperatures in order to kill bacteria before it can be converted into products like yoghurt and sour milk.
Mr. Qobolo said processing milk products also requires a high level of care and good hygiene practices because any single mistake can lead to a huge damage to the whole product.
He further said they came in honor of an invitation of the Resource Centre following the dairy farmers outcry triggered by the state of emergency on FMD which forced many farmers to dispose off thousands of liters of milk.
Mr. Qobolo pointed out that what amazed him is the participation of youths at the training, citing that they will grow up with a skill that can enhance their lives socially and economically, adding that under normal conditions they charge M1000,00 per person who want to acquire some skills on processing milk to yoghurt and sour milk, but for the fact that there was a crisis caused by FMD, they saw a need to respond urgently with a capacity building training for farmers.
Additionally, he said conducting such an outreach program has also given them an opportunity to raise awareness to dairy farmers on proper handling of milk from cow, up until it reaches the dairy storage without any contamination.
Mr. Qobolo said even when they want to sell their products to the market, they will still have to pass through their office for product testing in order to ensure that their products meet the required standards for public consumption.
One of the trainees from Ha Lekhafola, Mr. Khothalang Tsikoane said the training has served as an eye opener in various aspects of development that with the milk they can produce many products at the comfort of their homes, rather than selling.
Mr. Lekhafola said the reasons to venture into dairy farming was to sustain a living for his household, but they found themselves stuck when the district was hit by emerging animal diseases like Lumpy Skin Disease and FMD which caused them to incur huge loss of 20 liters of milk going to waste daily.
He said with skills acquired, plans in the pipeline to establish a community based society where they can start a mass production of such products in order to meet the market demands.
Representing youths, Nthati Tau from Ha Tebeli said looking at how youth are in dire need of jobs, the training has boosted her morale that there is life in dairy farming provided they take good care of their dairy cows.
Nthati said currently her parents own one dairy cow which has been sustaining their lives with the milk sold to the dairy, but life became difficult when FMD hit, therefore she said having attended the training has unlocked opportunities of creating projects.
Meanwhile, Pilot Resource Centre ATO Livestock, Mr. Teboho Marole said that farmers are looking up to increased production of milk, he strongly urged farmers to consider supplementary feeding in order to aim for quality, highlighting that plans are in place to conduct series of trainings for farmers on how to make fodder.
Pilot Resource Centre is situated within the demarcations of Malimong constituency where majority of people rely on livestock keeping and crops production.
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