Tanzania Dairy Board Works To Standardize Milk Processing Quality In Tanzania -

By STAFF REPORTER

THE Tanzania Dairy Board (TDB) has embarked on a vital program to impart the small and middle scale milk processors across the country with the advanced processing standards.

The Board is running the vital initiative with a patriotic eye to standardize and improve performance of the key health-economic sector in the country.

During this year’s Agricultural Exhibitions ‘Nanenane’ which ended recently in Mbeya region, the Board capacited more than 12 minor and middle scale milk processors with the recommended processing quality.

Speaking to this publication during the eight-days event, the TDB’s Acting Marketing Manager, Joseph Semu observed that some of the milk processing plants in the country were failing to meet the needed processing standards.

Undert the robust initiative, he unveiled that the Board was also motivating the milk producers to register their plants through the Mifugo Intergrated Management Information System (MIMIS).

The Registrar of the TDB, Dr. George Msalya, for his part, said the Board currently educating the public over the important to consume milk from the formal (reliable) sector.

According to him, more than 97 per cent of all milk that produced within the country are being channeled through the informal market system, and only 2.7 per cent of are available in the formal system (at processing industry industries and milk collection centers).

The Registrar of TDB, Dr. George Msalya (f-left) exchange some ideas with the Chief Secretary,

Dr. Moses Kusiluka (centre) during thus year’s Agricultural Exhibitions in Mbeya region.

“ “Despite being endowed with all potential needed to improve performance of the dairy sub-sector, the country still lags behind when it comes to production and processing of milk products due to poor investment in modern-technologies, as well as crossbreed dairy cattle,” he unveiled.

According to relevant statistics, there’re only five factories in Tanzania that have installed UHT technology facilities-Azam Milk, Tanga Fresh Limited, Milkcom, ASAS Dairies and Galaxy Food- the situation which thwarts processing capacity and quality in the country, in both, private and public sector factories.

Ultra-high temperature processing (UHT) is a food processing technology that sterilizes liquid food, most commonly milk, by heating it above 135 °C, over a very short time period – only two to five seconds – to kill microbial spores.

Poor investment in Ultra-high temperature processing (UHT) technology stand has among factors depriving Tanzania to benefiting from useful economic opportunities that the milk sub-sector has to offer, including exporting milk products to potential international markets.

Milk production sector in Tanzania has catapulted into a low pace from 2.1 billion liters in 2016 to only 3.1 billion in 2021.

And the sector contributes to 2.3 percent to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and the sector grows at a small pace of only 2 percent in a year.