ZIMBABWE’S livestock industry is under strain and shortages
of pork, chicken and beef are imminent after the price of feed shot up
following the removal of grain subsidies by government, an industry official
has warned.
At a recent meeting held by the Confederation of Zimbabwe
Industries, the Livestock and Meat Advisory Council (LMAC) cautioned that the
viability of the industry was under threat because costs of livestock feed had
become unsustainable.
“By just changing, overnight, the grain marketing policies
without consultations to the commercial livestock sector, which has been a
major partner of government and GMB (Grain Marketing Board), the farmer has
been introduced to a big shock. Now, there is a risk to the billion dollar
industry,” LMAC economist Reneth Mano told NewsDay yesterday. He also confirmed
the meeting of business membership organisations on Tuesday.
“And the main threat really is if you are a poultry breeder
and you are producing day-olds and you cannot access maize at affordable
prices, you may have to cut production. If you are into piggery, with imported
breeding stock, like a lot of our medium and large-scale producers, when you
cannot feed pigs you may have to scale down or kill some of them to convert
into pork.”
For beef, where the animals rely on imported soya meal, the
costs have cascaded even higher.
Authorities in Harare, who are battling to control
government spending, removed subsidies on grain which saw the price of maize
and soyabeans jump from ZWL$250 to ZWL $726 and ZWL $780 to ZWL $918 per tonne,
respectively.
“So, stockfeed prices went up by about 20%, which, in my
opinion, is a reaction to the change in the maize and grain pricing,” Mano
said.
“Using our basic demand, meat sales could fall by as much
as 20% or 30%.”
According to the LMAC, Zimbabwe has annual demand of around
91 million birds, 266 000 slaughter cows and 140 000 pigs.
The country’s demand for stockfeed is at a yearly estimate
of 450 000 tonnes.
Lands, Agriculture, Water, Climate and Rural Resettlement
deputy minister Vangelis Haritatos said government would engage stockfeed
producers and work with livestock farmers to find a solution to the industry.
Newsday
0 comments:
Post a Comment