Letšeng dairy project

Our projects are aimed at creating self-sustaining employment in the rural communities in which we operate. This year the dairy project continued to progress well, with construction of offices, a milking room and a cattle shelter being completed.

A herd of 17 cows is currently being milked at an average production rate of 215 litres of milk per day. This constitutes 5% of the total milk demand in Lesotho. The milk is being sold to the local market and to Letšeng Diamonds. In October 2017 milk also began to be supplied to the nearby Kao Mine. A challenge remains in supplying the local schools' market due to its distance from the dairy farm.

While sharecropping was initially considered as a means of generating feed for the animals, this approach proved to be labour intensive, costly and prone to theft. As a result, farmers in the area have been encouraged to plant fodder and yellow maize for sale to the dairy farm. We look forward to the next phase of the project in 2018.