THE TANZANIA DAIRY BOARD
1.0 INTRODUCTION
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| Milk |
Milk is a very nutritious food because it has essential nutrients required by the human body but is
prone to contamination and is very perishable. Milk, if it is badly handled, can pose a health risk to
the consumers. It is for these reasons that governments all over the world have in place a set of laws
and regulations in place to ensure that before it reaches the consumer, milk is handled properly so
that the consumer is assured of a safe and wholesome product and gets the intended benefits of
consuming milk and milk products.
In Tanzania the safety and quality of milk and milk products is regulated by the Tanzania Dairy Board the description of which is given hereunder.
The Tanzania Dairy Board was appointed in 2005 and was officially inaugurated on 11th November,
2005. This makes the history of the Board very short indeed but the history of regulation of the
Dairy Industry in Tanzania dates far back as shown below.
The history of regulation of the dairy industry in Tanzania starts with the colonial phase, 1921 -
1960. During this period, the dairy industry was geared towards meeting the needs of the colonials,
Indians and a few natives mainly in the urban areas of Dar es Salaam. The colonial government was
the main actor during this formative period of the dairy industry. However, realizing the complexity
and the private farming nature of the dairy production, the colonial Government withdrew
completely from milk production, processing and marketing and left everything to private operators
by 1960. In the subsequent period the Government directed its focus to the regulation of these
enterprises in order to ensure both the public health and further development of the dairy industry
After independence between 1961 and 1965 the operation of dairy sector was led by the “Dairy
Industry Ordinance No. 61 of 1961 Cap. 456. This law established Zonal Dairy Boards in areas
which produced sufficient amounts of milk to warrant establishment of a dairy plant (Dar/Coast,
Arusha/Kilimanjaro and Mara). The dairy industry ordinance was later repealed and replaced by the
Dairy Industry Act No. 32 of 1965 Cap 590. This Act established the National Dairy Board to
regulate and co-ordinate the development of the dairy industry. The main part of this legislation was
directing each milk producer to sell his/her milk only to the nearby dairy factory. This move gave
the dairy processing factories a de facto monopoly on the dairy industry in that it decided on which
price to pay to the producer and how much to charge for their products.
There was a drastic policy change after the 1967 Arusha Declaration whereby all large scale dairy
farms and milk processing factories were nationalised thus bringing the government into direct
production and trade in milk and milk products. In 1974 the Tanzania government established the
Livestock Development Authority (LIDA).Subsequently LIDA formed two subsidiary companies
namely Tanzania Dairies Limited (TDL), to operate the nationalised dairy processing factories and
Tanzania Dairy Farming Company (DAFCO), to run the nationalised large scale dairy farms and to
open new ones. It was then assumed that these two subsidiaries had taken over the functions of the
dairy board and therefore the minister responsible for livestock development did not appoint the
board since that year. Therefore the board became moribund, that is it continued to exist in law but
non functional in practice.
With the advent of the 1980s there was another equally important policy shift towards the private
sector involvement when the government in partnership with various donors established several
Smallholder Dairy Development projects such as Heifer Project International (HPI), Kagera
Livestock Development Project (KALIDEP), Tanga Dairy Development Project (TDDP) and the
Southern Highlands Dairy Development Project (SHDDP) in Iringa and Mbeya regions. This policy
shift was reflected in the National Agriculture Policy of 1983 and later the National Agriculture and
Livestock Policy of 1997. These two policy documents allowed the entrance of the private sector in
milk production processing and marketing. With the economic restructuring policies started in the
late 1980s, whereby the government withdrew from direct production and marketing, TDL and
DAFCO died or some of their operations were privatised and their place was taken over by the
private sector. With the expanding private sector involvement there evolved a need to have in place
new legislation to govern the industry.
From 1998 the Dairy industry stakeholders initiated the process of enactment of a new law by
forming a Task Force (TF 98) to prepare a draft proposal. The task force presented its proposal at
the 4th National Dairy Development Conference in 2002 at which the Stakeholders formed an
Interim Tanzania Dairy Board. Among the tasks of the interim board was to follow up on the
enactment of the new law. The new law was enacted in April 2004 as The Dairy Industry Act No. 8,2004.
The Dairy Industry Act, 2004 has repealed the old one, the Dairy Industry Act, 1965, Cap. 590. The
new Act intends to regulate, develop and promote milk and milk products production, processing,
marketing and consumption in order to meet the new socio-economic changes occurring in
Tanzania. The Act will, among other things, involve stakeholders in the development of the sub
sector and elimination of problems facing the sub sector in the country. Under the Dairy Industry
Act No. 8, 2004, the then Minister of Water and Livestock Development. Hon. Edward Lowassa
appointed the Tanzania Dairy Board which was inaugurated on 11th November 2005.
In his inaugural speech the Minister said that the main challenge to the Board was “To
make sure that the development of the dairy sub - sector is properly supervised
and coordinated so as to increase its contribution to the national economy and
improvement of the livelihood Tanzanians”
The main differentiating features of the Tanzania Dairy Board appointed under the Dairy Industry
Act, 2004 are that:
· It is more participatory in that it gives the stakeholders more decision making powers and
involves them in supervision of implementation of the decisions made,
· It is more democratic in that each member except the chairperson both in the Annual
Council and the Board has one vote,
· It is more autonomous in that it acts on decisions of stakeholders and is answerable to
stakeholders,
· It is more stakeholder friendly as it has more members representing the stakeholders who
are elected by the stakeholders themselves and
· Gives equal emphasis to development, promotion and regulation and is not just a
regulatory organ
The Dairy Industry Act, 2004 forms a two tier mode of organisation of the dairy industry as shown
below:
A. THE ANNUAL COUNCIL
– the decision making body which is comprised of;
1. A chairperson appointed by the Minister responsible for livestock
2. One member representing recognised stakeholder organisations in every district of
mainland Tanzania
3. One member representing registered national milk producers’ organisations
4. One member representing registered national milk processors’ organisations
5. One member representing registered national milk consumers’ organisations
6. one member from the Ministry responsible for livestock development
7. one member from the national institution responsible for food quality control
8. one member from the public university of agriculture
9. one member from the ministry responsible for local government
10. one member form the ministry responsible for cooperatives and
11. two members from NGOs active in dairy industry development
The annual council meets once a year and is mandated to deliberate on and decide on matters
pertaining to development of the dairy industry as a whole and advise the board and the minister for
livestock on the same. It also proposes the members of the dairy board who represent stakeholders
for appointment by the minister. It also approves annual budgets and annual accounts of the board.
Members of the annual council work for a term of 3 years and can be re elected.
B. THE TANZANIA DAIRY BOARD
– the executive and secretariat of the Annual council and
consists of:
1. the chairperson appointed by the minister responsible for livestock
2. three members representing milk producers
3. one member representing milk processors
4. one member representing milk traders
5. one member representing dairy input suppliers
6. one member representing milk consumers
7. one member representing the Attorney General
8. one member representing the Ministry responsible for livestock development
9. one member from the public institution responsible for food quality control
10. one member from a public university of agriculture
11. one member from the Ministry responsible for local government
Members from (1) to (6) above are appointed by the minister responsible for livestock development
upon recommendation from the Annual Council. The board being an executive arm of the Annual
Council works by implementing decisions of the annual council and reports annually to the Annual
Council. The tenure of office for board members is 3 years and can be re appointed.
The board appoints the Registrar who is also the Chief Executive Officer of the board and other
employees, controls the dairy development fund, prepares annual reports and budgets for
approval of the annual council. So in actual sense it is the Board that carries out dairy development,
promotion and regulation of the dairy industry but under supervision of the Annual Council.
THE FUNCTIONS OF THE TANZANIA DAIRY BOARD ARE:
(a) to advise the Minister of matters concerning dairy development policies and strategies
for promotion and development of the dairy Industry;
(b) to perform regulatory activities in the dairy industry in accordance with the provisions
of this Act;
(c) to search and develop markets;
(d) to conduct market research;
(e) to develop and monitor strategies and plans designed to achieve and maintain self
sufficiency and efficiency in milk production, processing and marketing;
(f) to ensure availability of appropriate technology for the industry;
(g) to create and promote a competitive environment conducive to fair play among
stakeholders in the dairy industry;
(h) to monitor the execution of contracts and marketing arrangements between dairy
producers and processors or other bodies related to dairy sector and reconcile the
parties, when disputes arise;
(i) to collect, analyse, maintain and disseminate data and information relating to dairy
industry;
(j) to promote and facilitate formation of associations or other bodies of stakeholders
within the dairy (sub-sector) which shall form a consultative forum with the Board and
monitor their activities;
(k) to promote and co-ordinate the development of small, medium and large scale dairy
keepers and processors;
(l) to promote the training and improvement of skills in technological advancement in the
dairy industry;
(m) to promote advocacy on dairy industry;
(n) to monitor trends for local dairy production, dairy export and import requirements;
(o) to represent stakeholders in international fora relating to or dealing with the dairy
industry;
(p) to monitor the implementation of agreements governing sale of dairy factories and
farms and submit the report to the Minister;
(q) to register producers and processors of dairy and dairy products;
(r) to liaise with the Tanzania Food, Drugs and Cosmetics Authority (TFDA) on
licensing;
(s) to collaborate with the Tanzania Food, Drugs and Cosmetics Authority (TFDA) in
inspection of dairy facilities such as dairy farms, plants, kiosks, parlours and other
similar facilities; and
(t) to organize dairy shows and participation of stakeholders in such shows within and
outside the country.
BOARD MEMBERS
The following were appointed to form the first Tanzania Dairy Board under the Dairy Idustry Act,
2004:
1. Prof. L.R. Kurwijila SUA Mwenyekiti
2. Prof. M.N. Shem Mfugaji Mjumbe
3. Dr. T. G. Maeda Mfugaji Mjumbe
4. Ms Helen Usiri Mfugaji Mjumbe
5. Bw. E Mbogora Msindikaji Mjumbe
6. Bw. N. M. Mbwambo Wizara ya Maendeleo ya Mifugo Mjumbe
7. Ms M. Ndomondo Sigonda TFDA Mjumbe
8. Prof. N.A. Urio SUA Mjumbe
9. Ms. M. Tarishi Kibenga TAMISEMI/Makamu M/Kiti Mjumbe
10. Bw. S. Nzori Wizara ya Sheria na Katiba Mjumbe
FUTURE PLANS
In the short term the Board plans to:
To strengthen the Board secretariat
To continue commemoration of the World Milk Day and the Annual National Milk
Promotion Week
To hold the Biennial National Dairy Development Conferences
To prepare the Strategic Plan for the next five years
HOW TO CONTACT US
Postal address
THE REGISTRAR
TANZANIA DAIRY BOARD
P.O. Box 38456
Dar es Salaam
Physical address
NSSF UBUNGO OFFICE BLOCK
PLOT NO.417, BLOCK G
MOROGORO ROAD
DAR ES SALAAM
Telephone +255 22 2450425
Fax +255 22 2450425
E mail: tzdairyboard@bol.co.tz