. Kazabu

By JAMES KUNDA –
THE Government has embarked on a study to determine Zambia’s beef output with the aim of reducing imports for the commodity.
Agriculture and Livestock deputy Luxon Kazabu minister said in an interview that this came in the wake of concerns by stakeholders that the country did not require imports of beef.
Mr Kazabu said the study would include comparisons in beef output and consumption and findings will be submitted to the Ministry of Commerce, Trade and Industry which issues permits for imports and exports.
“The Ministry has undertaken a study to determine the beef output and consumption locally. These findings will de deliberated upon with our colleagues in the ministry of Commerce as they have the mandate of issuing import permits,” he said.
Recently, stakeholders in the beef industry asked Government to enhance regulation of beef imports to save local production.
According to a statement posted on the Zambia National Farmers Union (ZNFU) website, beef cattle producers complained over the reported increased quantities of beef from other countries that have affected demand for the local products.
“Farmers informed the meeting convened at the ZNFU head office that they were unable to sell their beef cattle to processors due to huge quantities of imports that have flooded the Zambian market,” read the statement.
The meeting was informed that cheap beef imports would undermine the major investments in the beef industry facilitated by the multilateral financial development institutions such as the World Bank.
Most of the beef meat and live beef cattle originated from regional markets such as South Africa and Namibia.
More than a fortnight ago, Zambeef Products Plc said the local beef industry risked collapsing if an influx of imported meat products was not checked on the Zambian market.
Zambeef used to process more than 2,000  heads of cattle  per month at Huntley Farm in Chisamba only but  it has reduced production  to less than 1,300 due to heavy competition posed by influx of imported   meat products.
Zambeef Huntley Farm processing and abattoir general manager Ryan Crause had said  this when a team of experts  from Commerce Trade and
Industry and Zambia Development Agency (ZDA) led by Permanent Secretary Siazongo Siakalenge  visited Huntley Farm,
The company has been forced to reduce production by 50 per cent due to heavy competition in the industry.
“We have reduced production because the demand of meat production has significantly reduced.
This is because imports have flooded the Zambian market, and those products are going cheaply compared to our products,” Mr Crause had said.
Some of the meat products are selling at K16  and K18 per kilogram while those from local suppliers are on average costing between K24 and K26 imported products at an advantage.