CIBITOKE, February 27th (ABP) – A total of 14 young unemployed people from Cibitoke province got together in 2022 to create their own jobs and set up a dairy processing project within the Cibitoke Cooperative of People United for Development (COOPUDC).
A milk processing unit has been set up in the commune of Rugombo, the heaquarters of Cibitoke province, with a staff of six COOPUDC members and six external milk collectors and transporters.
The processing of raw milk has begun, and several varieties of dairy products are gradually flooding the market, making them accessible to consumers in Cibitoke province, Bujumbura and the Democratic Republic of Congo, according to local sources. The products include three types of yoghurt: strawberry yoghurt, vanilla yoghurt and plain yoghurt. The cooperative also produces two types of cheese, white and yellow. It also produces fresh cream and butter, according to the cooperative’s administrative and financial director, Jeanine Ndayizeye.
The processing unit has a capacity of 200 500 ml bottles of milk each. What’s more, the cooperative has been able to provide a suitable workplace and accommodation for its staff. With the sale of those products of better quality and flavour, COOPUDC has equipped itself with its own equipment,” explained the DAF.
With several stages involved in processing, including pasteurisation, filtering, preservation, transport and storage, COOPUDC plans to continue performing well, according to Ms Ndayizeye, adding that it plans to buy a machine to produce biodegradable packaging instead of the plastic bottles it buys in Bujumbura.
In order to easily find milk, which is the raw material, COOPUDC is planning to buy good-breed cows that can produce at least 15 to 20 litres of milk a day, she said.
As for challenges, she pointed to the shortage of raw materials and the lack of vehicles for collecting and transporting the milk. At present, the milk is transported by two bicycles, which cannot carry large quantities.
With the purchase of a packaging machine, other members of the cooperative will find jobs, and so on.
Mrs. Ndayizeye is calling on unemployed young people and others to follow in their footsteps, by creating jobs and working in cooperatives, stressing that “there is strength in numbers” and that “work ennobles man”.