Beef industry has potential to national development

Government says that there is need to fully exploit the beef industry in the country owing to its potential to greatly contribute to national development.
Namwala District Commissioner Mary Sakala says it is of great concern that the beef sector has not performed to its expectations despite its huge potential in most parts of the country such Namwala district.

Ms. Sakala noted that many small and emergent cattle farmers who do not have requisite modern technical skills to enhance their productivity and quality of their animals, needed support.
She observed that the beef industry in the country is also not well coordinated due to weak linkages among value chain players ranging from input suppliers, producers, suppliers and processors to retailers.

ZANIS reports that the District Commissioner said this yesterday during a workshop for the project entitled: “ strengthening the Organisational capacity and advocacy voice of small and emergent beef producers for imported productivity, Market Access and income in Namwala and itezhi tezhi.”

She has since appealed to the Beef Association of Zambia (BAZ ) to take a leading role of coordinating and advocating for an enabling policy environment for all the industry players other than providing requisite market information and technical support.

Ms. Sakala further said that the voice of beef farmers is not present in the District Development Coordinating Committee (DDCC) or even in the District Farmers Association, despite many issues that require dialogue and policy advocacy in order to move the beef industry forward.