Gloria Kasengele began farming with her brother in Fisenge about six years ago and switched to dairy in 2018 when he passed on.
She was encouraged into the dairy industry by other women in her community and has since gained a reputation for being one of the best farmers in her area.
A member of the Chinchi Wababili Co-operative, Gloria has seen a lot of improvements to her dairy business after implementing advice from ZDTP farm visits, training sessions and participating in the programme’s Real Time Monitoring (RTM) initiative.
RTM is about using record keeping to capture the cost of production of a dairy business over time.
Gloria says her records show that making her own feed has made a dramatic improvement to her profitability. She is pleased to be able to run her farm enterprise and pay salaries without panic.
ZDTP training programmes have also helped inform better milk hygiene practices on Gloria’s farm, such as prioritising cleanliness to avoid mastitis and other animal diseases, how to keep milk safe after milking and how to test for mastitis using Sunlight detergent as a reagent.
Gloria has also implemented good feeding practices – for example, using troughs rather than putting fodder on the ground. She knows how to keep her animals healthy and is proud to say her milk is rarely rejected by her local Milk Collection Centre.
Gloria making silage in drums.
Gloria says that long term she would like to grow her herd so as to produce 100-150 litres per day and to start adding value to her milk.
She is encouraging fellow farmers in her area to take their dairy businesses seriously and is always keen to share what she has learned over the past few years.