Parmalat threatens to close Milk Collection Centers in Namwala

Parmalat refrigerated truck

Parmalat Zambia has threatened to close all Milk Collection Centers in Namwala district in Southern Province due to the low milk volumes the company has been collecting in the recent weeks.

This was brought to light during a stakeholders meeting convened by the Dairy Association of Zambia (DAZ) and Parmalat Zambia in Namwala district.

Parmalat Zambia Field Facilitator Kelvin Muchenje says the company is collecting low volumes of less than 500 litres of milk every 2 days from the whole district.

Mr. Muchenje has lamented that it is proving to be too costly for Parmalat to continue servicing Milk Collection Centres in Namwala with such low volumes being collected.

According to the Zambia National Farmers Union (ZNFU) Weekly Brief made available to QFM News, Parmalat Zambia has since given Milk Collection Centres a one week ultimatum to start delivering substantial amounts of milk, failure to which the company will stop sending refrigerated trucks to collect milk from the district.

The low milk volumes at Milk Collection Centres has been attributed to inadequate pastures for cattle during the dry season and also the fact that most farmers in Namwala have beef animals which they use for milk which leads to low milk output.