Rotary and other party involvement in the project, benefits around 3,000 individuals – that in itself is quite an achievement.

Article by PDG Geoff Mathis, 2008-09 District 9930

The Rotary D9930 support for the Kondiki dairy plant in the community of Mwika (1,700 metres on the edge of Mt Kilimanjaro) has continued to gather strength, amidst headwinds of COVID-19. Thanks to improvements in plant and equipment, processing, marketing, and overall business management systems, the Dairy is now processing all its daily purchased raw milk, nearing 5,000 litres.

In 2007 it collected 700 litres per day, our district got involved in 2009 with the goal of installing some biogas digesters – to date, 103 have been installed, we have assisted in funding 150 Friesian heifers, a new milk plant, a 3 ton milk truck, a “Farmlands” type retail outlet and on farm advisory services – the list goes on.

In total - $1.2m NZ dollars has been made available to grow the project.

The underlying productivity of the Dairy has continued to improve because of gains in economies of scale, diversification into yogurt, butter and other value-adding products, and smarter overall management of processing and marketing operations.

The brand of "superior" Kondiki dairy products is spreading widely, not only in Kilimanjaro Region, but also in the lucrative and still largely under-exploited markets in the nearby city of Arusha, almost 2hrs away.

Looking ahead, the Dairy is eyeing a relatively large pool of milk in Mwika that is marketed and consumed in unprocessed form. The Dairy's goal is to boost throughput and realize health benefits and more economic benefits for Mwika farmers and their families.

At the moment the dairy has almost 700 suppliers supplying from 2ltrs per day to the larger farmers of 100ltres per day. Extrapolating that out, Rotary and other party involvement in the project, benefits around 3,000 individuals – that in itself is quite an achievement.

Sadly, Kondiki Dairy has not been spared the ravages of COVID-19.

Of its Board members, two have died, and several others were recently afflicted. A number of younger staff members were also sick and temporarily absent from work. As the fourth wave of the pandemic approaches, virtually all employees are vaccinated and COVID protocols are being enforced rigorously.

Kondiki will continue to grow, develop new markets and capture more raw milk for processing. This will require additional modest investments, including acquisition of a one-ton vehicle, to support marketing operations into Arusha.

Cost estimate for the small (2nd hand) one-ton, 4-Wheel Suzuki including, insulation & 12mths insurance - NZD17,000.

District 9930 Governor Ross Pinkham gives his support for further growing this initiative. If your club is able to assist in the purchase of the delivery van it would be most welcome.

Can our District achieve this goal? – of course we can.

Payment could be made via the RNZWCS Ltd –

Bank account details are: 03 1702 0192 208 01 reference Suzuki

This is the end result of all our efforts to date.

One happy family.