Dairy exporters 'milk' Swazi potential

MBABANE Swaziland’s dependence on SA as both an economic lifeline and food source was underscored by new figures showing an all-time high in dairy imports over the past year. The data released last week found R400 million worth of SA dairy goods imported into Swaziland, with threequarters of these imports milk and the rest cheese and other dairy products. “The irony is that Swaziland with all its farms and available agricultural land should be meeting its own dairy needs easily. But this is good news for transporters. All dairy products come into the country by road in tankers and the refrigerated trucks of the major supermarket chains like Pick n Pay and Shoprite,” said the manager of a Matsaphabased road freight firm. Swaziland was a net exporter of food until the 1970s, but large commercial farms have become fewer and the export focus since the 1970s has been sugar cane. Agriculture production that is left is largely on small rural homesteads on communal Swazi Nation Land where twothirds of Swazis reside and engage primarily in subsistence farming. Cows are ubiquitous, on highways also as truck drivers can testify, but they are not bred for commercial use. The absence of a viable food-producing agricultural sector for commercial purposes is also reflected in the R90m of pork products, fruit and vegetables also imported from SA to Swaziland this past year. All these products could be produced locally, the agriculture ministry told FTW. “Surely, as a country, we should be able to produce enough to sustain the local food market through partnerships with financial institutions and all other stakeholders in the agricultural sector,” suggested Robert Thwala, principal secretary for the ministry. For the foreseeable future, though, SA farmers and road transporters will continue to enjoy a secure market for agricultural products over the border in Swaziland.