Zambia has capacity to feed southern region-PAC chair for Swaziland

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A high level visiting delegation of Parliamentarians says Zambia has the capacity to feed the entire Southern African region.

 

Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee of the Swaziland Parliament Thulisile Dladla stated that the African Union is trying to remove the economic boundaries that exist so Zambia will be capable of feeding the entire region.

 

Ms Dladla said though South Africa has been feeding Swaziland, Zambia is also feeding the Southern African region.

 

The Swaziland SAC Chairman led a group of 35 SADC Parliamentarians and clerks from the SAC Public Accounts Committee who toured Zambeef’s operations at Huntley Farm in Chisamba yesterday.

 

The team inspected the company’s feedlot, flour mill, cropping operations and dairy farm.

 

The team was particularly impressed with Zambeef’s value addition at every step of the value chain, and the contribution made by the company to empowering small-scale entrepreneurs.

 

“I love this project very much because they have got many small-scale farmers who benefit. Zambeef has untold potential to feed the region, and what we have seen here is one thing that we will try and emulate in our respective countries,” Ms Dladla said.

 

Zambeef Head of Public Relations and Corporate Affairs Felix Lupindula told the group that Zambia is endowed with a large land resource base of 75 million hectares.

 

He said potential arable land covers less than half of the country’s total land, but that only 15 percent of this is reportedly under cultivation.

 

Mr Lupindula also disclosed that the country has abundant water resources for irrigation, accounting for 40 percent of the water resources in Central and Southern Africa.

 

He further stated that Zambeef Products is aiming to be the leading food provider in the region and continues to expand its production capacity to meet the growing demand.

 

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