Government Official Identifies Challenges Facing Sudan’s Dairy Industry and Outlines Development Vision
Khartoum – Sudanhorizon
An official at the Ministry of Animal Resources and Fisheries has identified the main challenges facing Sudan’s dairy industry, foremost among them weak infrastructure, limited cooling and storage facilities, high costs of equipment and production inputs, and difficulties transporting milk from production areas to processing centres. She also highlighted the need to develop training, extension services, and product quality control programs.
Speaking during a seminar organized by the Ministry’s Training Department on Saturday under the title “From Entrepreneurship Training to Dairy Processing,” agricultural engineer Batoul Mohamed Ali Ahmed, an official at the General Directorate of Planning and Livestock Economics, explained that Sudan possesses significant potential for developing its dairy industry, thanks to its diverse livestock resources, extensive pastoral and agricultural production areas, and indigenous cattle breeds. These include Kenana cattle, which are distinguished by their ability to adapt to local environmental conditions, offering promising investment opportunities in milk production and processing.
She emphasized that transitioning from entrepreneurship training to manufacturing represents an important step in transforming knowledge and skills into viable productive enterprises that contribute to supporting the economy and improving living standards.
She noted that entrepreneurship training aims to equip individuals with the skills needed to establish and manage their own businesses through learning the fundamentals of entrepreneurship, selecting business ideas, conducting market research and preparing feasibility studies, as well as acquiring management, planning, production, and marketing skills. These efforts also help promote a culture of self-employment among young people and women.
She explained that dairy processing is one of the promising investment areas in the livestock sector, given milk’s high nutritional value and the possibility of transforming it into a variety of products, including pasteurized milk, yogurt, cheese, butter, ghee, and cream, rather than marketing it in its raw form. This would generate additional economic value from production.
She added that the processing process begins with receiving raw milk and testing its quality, followed by filtration and heat treatment through pasteurization to reduce disease-causing microorganisms. The subsequent stages include processing, filling, packaging, and storage in accordance with appropriate health requirements.
These operations require the provision of specialized equipment and facilities, including milk reception and storage tanks, cooling and pasteurization units, acidity and density measuring instruments, cheese and yogurt processing equipment, as well as filling, packaging, and refrigerated storage systems, depending on the size and production capacity of each project.
She stressed the importance of adhering to quality and food safety standards by ensuring equipment is properly cleaned and sterilized, verifying the safety of raw milk, maintaining appropriate temperatures during transportation and storage, and conducting regular inspections. She also highlighted the implementation of the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) system to minimize contamination risks and ensure product safety.
She pointed out that dairy processing contributes to increasing the added value of livestock production, opening new markets, encouraging small and medium-sized enterprises, creating employment opportunities for young people and women, and increasing producers’ incomes.
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