Zambia can feed the region, says SADC delegation
September 5th, 2014
Zambeef hosts visiting Parliamentarians
LUSAKA, ZAMBIA – Zambia has the capacity to feed the entire Southern African region – that’s according to a high level delegation of Parliamentarians who visited the operations of Zambeef Products in Chisamba yesterday (September 4).
“The African Union is trying to remove the economic boundaries that exist so Zambia will be capable of feeding all of us. South Africa has been feeding us, but Zambia can also feed the region,” said Hon. Thulisile Dladla MP, chairman of the Public Accounts Committee of the Swaziland Parliament.
Ms Dladla led a group of 35 SADC Parliamentarians – MPs and clerks from the SADC Public Accounts Committee – who toured Zambeef’s operations at Huntley Farm, inspecting the company’s feedlot, flour mill, cropping operations and dairy farm.
MPs and clerks from the SADC Public Accounts Committee
inspect Zambeef’s dairy operations in Chisamba
inspect Zambeef’s dairy operations in Chisamba
The party 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.
The group heard that Zambia is endowed with a large land resource base of 75 million hectares. Potential arable land covers less than half of the country’s total land, but only 15 percent of this is reportedly under cultivation.
“There are abundant water resources for irrigation and the country has 40 percent of the water resources in Central and Southern Africa,” explained Zambeef Head of Public Relations and Corporate Affairs Felix Lupindula, who led the tour with Huntley Farm General Manager Francis Mondomona.
Zambeef Products is aiming to be the leading food provider in the region and continues to expand its production capacity to meet growing demand.
“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,” added Ms Dladla.
About Zambeef Products Plc
Zambeef Products Plc is the largest integrated agribusinesses in Zambia.
The group is principally involved in the production, processing, distribution and retailing of beef, chicken, pork, milk, dairy products, eggs, edible oils, stock feed and flour. The group also has large row cropping operations (principally maize, soya beans and wheat), with approximately 8,350 hectares of row crops under irrigation and 17,000 hectares of rain-fed/dry-land crops available for planting each year. 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 80,000 beef cattle and 6 million chickens, and processes 8 million litres of milk per year. The company has 122 retail outlets throughout the country, along with three wholesale depots.
