Namibia Dairies started with the structural development of its super dairy farm in Mariental on Friday.

The N$80 million investment will create 50 new jobs and produce 30 to 40 per cent of Namibia's total milk production, reducing the country's dependency on imports.

"When completed this super farm will be one of the most modern dairy facilities in the world, using state-of-the-art technology to provide Namibian consumers with quality, healthy and affordable products, Hugh Froggatt, Managing Director of Namibia Dairies, said at the groundbreaking ceremony on Friday.

The farm will house 4 000 cows.

The farm will integrate the company's existing dairy farms at Gocheganas near Windhoek and the farm Pardah.

Thanking Government for making the project a reality, Sven Thieme, executive chairman of the Ohlthaver & List Group of which Namibia Dairies is a subsidiary, said: "This project would not have materialised without Government's support and the decision to approve our request to lease a portion of this farm."

Despite the super farm, Namibia Dairies will still procure raw milk from small and mid-scale dairy producers.

"Namibia Dairies will still require the milk they can produce to satisfy growing demand for the company's products," Froggatt said.

Refuting claims that milk prices in Namibia are too high because of infant industry protection, Thieme said the dairy industry has over a long period of time "absorbed inflationary increases in the price of fodder and transport".