The only best milk produced under the SEASKY brand meeting the conditions required by international standards, better for health and sold at an affordable price is a reality on the market. This was revealed this Tuesday, February 13, 2024 in Buringa in Gihanga commune, Bubanza province. It was during the inauguration of the “Seasky Dairy” and the “Sunway” vocational training and capacity building center, two subsidiaries of Lifeway Company, a company, which, on this occasion, officially launched its activities
When cutting the ribbon
“The idea of creating the Lifeway Company translated into Kirundi by Inzira y’Ubuzima was inspired not only by the culture of love of milk and the cow, but also by the way of those who supplied me with this product were doing it,” said Prosper Ndangamira, promoter of Lifeway Company. This at a time when he was tracing the history of how he managed to transform the milk of international renown.
He points out that he started in 2017 with an order for 4 liters of raw milk per day intended for family consumption. Those who supplied me, insists Mr. Ndagamira, used bicycles as a means of transport and plastic cans as packaging.
“Sometimes he would bring it to me under the sun, sometimes they would go away. In short, the conditions in which I was supplied were not reassuring, even less favorable,” he laments before specifying that it was his children who chose the name Lifeway Company, an industrial company which works in the field. agro-pastoral.
It referred to the shift from locally consumed milk to industrially processed milk.
From local cow to improved cow
The Boss of Lifeway Company informs that he started by raising 20 traditional cows. “The less profitable production of these pushed me to replace them with modern breeds imported from Uganda or elsewhere,” he announces.
Ndagamira testifies that during the execution of the project, he faced certain challenges such as the death of livestock, the lack of partners, the lack of space and credits to practice modern breeding.
God helping, he rejoices, FinBank had confidence in me by granting me a loan to start my breeding project. As if by magic, the Management and Financing Bank (BGF), continues Mr. Ndagamira, replenished my coffers. This without forgetting the exemptions granted by the Government. “Today, I have more than 800 cows of improved breed. Every day, the society benefits from no less than two calves and out of 100 calves that are born, around 20 are bull calves,” he points out.
And added: “In our laboratory, we carry out artificial insemination of the premium breed. This year, we plan to produce 70 improved breed cows capable of producing 30 to 50 liters of milk per day. Within two years, we will have around 400 premium quality improved breed cows.”
Seasky milk for consumer pride
Me Amandine Niyubahwe, legal assistant of the Lifeway Company, informs that Lifeway processes milk in accordance with international standards, the best milk for children and adults, namely pasteurized milk, chocolate yogurt milk, strawberry yogurt and milk coffee yogurt.
Seasky Dairy will soon process 100 thousand liters of milk per day.
“Processed milk is the product of livestock raised by the company. This does not prevent us from obtaining supplies from other breeders. Depending on the distance of origin of the milk, the price of a liter of milk varies from 1,200 FBu to 1,500 FBu at the breeder,” she says.
Me Niyubahwe indicates the price of Seasky brand products is affordable. She specifies that these are sold for example in the Rohero I district, avenue des Manguiers, number 08 at MILKZONE, in the Asian district… Furthermore, she recalls, any food whether in Bujumbura or elsewhere. The interior of the country can stock up on our products by placing orders.
The Lifeway Company legal assistant reassures that the company spares no effort to satisfy its customers. “Apart from the good quality of our milk, we have a sufficient quantity available, i.e. the capacity to process more than 10 thousand liters of milk per day. Moreover, new machines with a capacity to process 100 thousand liters of milk per day are being installed,” she reassures before indicating that the company has refrigerated trucks that can transport milk in any place to order, even during the holidays.
It also points out that this milk is preserved in such a way as to protect the health of consumers. For Me Niyubahwe, within the company, the refrigerators are there to play this role. “Even if there are sometimes power outages, the company has installed generators to intervene if necessary,” she reassures.
An innovative project
Marie Chantal Nijimbere, Minister of Commerce, Transport, Industry and Commerce recognizes that Lifeway Company is an innovative project aimed at promoting the development of agri-business and especially the development of the livestock value chain cows and their derived products.
She confirms that the project supports the vision of Burundi as an emerging country in 2040 and a developed country in 2060. This is because it is an expanded project which intervenes in the upgrading and strengthening of the capacities of breeders and farmers, in the processing and distribution of concentrated livestock feed, in the distribution and valorization of veterinary medicines and vaccines as well as in the conservation and production of milk and other various dairy products.
And to clarify: “The transformation of national milk production constitutes an effective means of combating unemployment and above all of combating poverty, particularly among the most vulnerable populations such as women and young people through the creation of employment. Private initiatives like those of Lifeway Company contribute to the creation of wealth and job creation.”
Along the same lines, Cléophas Nizigiyimana, governor of the province of Bubanza, certifies that Lifeway Company contributes not only to job creation, but also to the development of the province.
Since its creation, Lifeway Company started with the creation of 20 jobs and has grown to more than 400 jobs today.
The official launch ceremonies of the activities of Lifeway Company and the inauguration of Sunway and Seasky were enhanced by the Minister in charge of Trade, the Minister in charge of the Civil Service, the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry in charge of Agriculture , representatives of the diplomatic and consular bodies, honorable deputies, the commissioner general of the Burundian Revenue Office (OBR), representatives of the Federal Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Burundi (CFCIB), national economic operators and international…
