Mach Milk Company Limited, which has invested K200 million in milk power production, has rolled out its operations in Mpemba, Blantyre, pledging to boost the welfare of local dairy farmers and create more jobs.

In an interview on Tuesday, the firm’s managing director Madalitso Phiri said the K200 million investment, partly a loan from local development finance institutional Malawi Agricultural and Industrial Investment Corporation, will enable the firm to provide direct market access to the over 5 000 dairy farmers.

He said the firm has, so far, created about 200 jobs.

Phiri said demand for milk powder is on the rise, and fulfilling it requires huge capital investment.

He said: “In terms of quality, our milk powder is good and it undergoes a drying process without chemical additives. 

“We are currently working on a scientific way of instant milk powder solubility to meet the test of many people. The milk powder samples that were sent to MBS laboratory came out very good.”

Phiri said they are currently undergoing certification processing of Malawi Bureau of Standards under the Agriculture Commercialisation Project, a six-year $95 million (about K78 billion) project financed by the World Bank to promote commercial farming.

But he said the Halaal Department of the Muslim Association of Malawi certified their milk powder.

Phiri said the journey has not been smooth-sailing.

“One of the many challenges we faced was to get electricity connection, the cost was prohibitive. However, we managed to get the power,” said Phiri.

He said capital injection can enable the company to increase milk output to 144 000 kilogrammes in the next five years.

Last year, Ministry of Trade and Industry officials visited the factory to appreciate progress.

The officials assured management of the company that government will always create a conducive environment to enable the private sector to thrive.

Figures from the World Health Organisation show that Malawi has the lowest consumption of milk per capital in Africa estimated at four to six kilogrammes (kg).

This is well below the African continent average of 15kg per capita and is also lower than the 200kg per capita recommended by WHO. n

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