Milk group losing 600 litres a day
Feature by Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi (Escom) to connect a warehouse belonging to Lilongwe- based Nsalu Milk Bulking Group to the national grid is contributing to the loss of up to 600 litres of milk on a daily basis.
The 272-member group produces about 830 litres from its 83 cows, meaning only 230 litres becomes available to the market.
Chairperson of the group, Daniel Chapota, told Secretary for Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development, Erica Maganga, on Friday that the challenge is discouraging the group members.
Chapota said the group already paid K6 million connection fee sometime back, but there is nothing happening to connect the structure.
“We are working hard but our labour is in vain. We ask you to ask Escom why they are failing to connect electricity to our warehouse,” Chapota said.
Maganga, who went to the area of Traditional Authority Kabudula for the 2017 national manure making, irrigation and fodder preservation season launch, said her office will liaise with Escom to know what is really affecting the connection process.
“It is really sad that you are losing such litres of milk and we will look at better ways of helping you out of this problem,” Maganga said.
She then called on farmers in the country to adopt the use of manure and irrigation at the time the country’s soils have lost fertility and the world is grappling with climate change challenges.
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