Zambeef commended for its agriculture contributions in Central Province

LUSAKA, ZAMBIA – Zambeef Products contribution to the economy of Central Province and beyond by way of employment and working with local farmers has been commended by Central Province Minister Hon. Davies Chisopa.

Speaking during a tour of Zambeef’s Huntley and Kalundu Dairy farms in Chisamba earlier today, the minister said: “What Zambeef is doing here is a good. We came to acquaint ourselves with the operations and are ready to share ideas.”

Zambeef employs more than 6,000 permanent staff countrywide, of which 1,300 of the workforce based at Huntley Farm in Chisamba and the are rest spread across its subsidiaries and 122 retail outlets and three wholesale, explained Joint Chief Executive Officer Francis Grogan. Wages make a huge contribution to the wider economy, he added.

With Zamhatch and Zamplam, in Mpongwe and Mpika respectively, nearly ready to be fully operation, Zambeef hopes to create more opportunities for the local farmer as well as the communities in places of operation.

“None of this would be possible without the government’s enabling environment. An agribusiness such as ours requires proper infrastructure in order to get maximum production and returns. But on the other hand you can invest in cold rooms, build an abattoir and meat trucks but you need good people and good management to keep it going,” added Mr Grogan.

The minister also applauded Zambeef’s 100 percent local procurement policy that gives priority to local small-scale farmers in the supply of cattle, pigs, milk and chickens.

Zambeef’s Kalundu Dairy farm generates 60 per cent of its raw milk requirements. The remaining 40 per cent is bought from small-scale farmers in the area who it further supports with technical expertise and advice in order to ensure that the milk is up to the required commercial standards.

The minister further urged Zambeef to continue working in the transparent manner with which it has been conducting operations.

Zambeef is a unique agribusiness follows a vertical integration model for its business that seeks to optimise value addition at every stage of the chain, which in this case includes its supply chain which comprises internally generated supply of raw inputs into its production as well as local eternal supply of the same.

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About Zambeef Products Plc
Zambeef Products Plc is one of the largest integrated agribusinesses in Zambia and the region. The group is principally involved in the production, processing, distribution and retailing of beef, chicken, pork, milk, dairy products, eggs, stock feed and flour. The group also has large row cropping operations (principally maize, soya beans and wheat), with approximately 15,700 hectares of row crops grown under irrigation and a further 8,000 hectares of rain-fed/dry-land crops planted each year producing 120,000 tons of grain annually. The group is also in the process of rolling out its West Africa expansion in Nigeria and Ghana, as well as developing a palm project in Zambia. It slaughters more than 60,000 beef cattle, 5.5 million chickens and 54,000 pigs per annum, while also processing 11 million litres of milk and producing 110,000 tons of stock-feed and 48 million eggs per year. The company has 138 retail outlets throughout Zambia and West Africa, along with four wholesale depots.
More information is available at www.zambeefplc.com.