Huge export window for goat producers
THE country’s trade development and promotion organisation, ZimTrade, has rallied livestock farmers to scale up production and tap into the growing global demand for goat meat and related products along the value chain.
ZimTrade chief executive officer, Mr Allan Majuru, said while Zimbabwe has many goats and sheep producers, their exportation has not been fully explored.
“However, its slow pace in contributing significantly to national exports is largely due to the failure by farmers to commercialise the practice,” he said in a latest article published on the organisation’s official website.
Mr Allan Majuru
“Experts say goats and sheep withstand drought conditions much better than cattle and they can survive on shrubs and need less manpower for tending to, making them a better choice than high-maintenance bigger livestock like cows, which are less tolerant to drought conditions.
“Goats and sheep are such animals whose production and exportation has not been fully explored in the country, yet it has great potential evidenced by the world import demand of the product.”
Further to this, Mr Majuru said the demand for goat and sheep meat was increasing faster than the growth in their population, making it difficult for local producers to meet required quantities.
Last week, President Mnangagwa launched the nation-wide rural goat scheme as one of the measures to address the livestock gap in the country.
President Mnangagwa
The Presidential Rural Goat Scheme will see over three million households benefitting from the US$87 million programme, which is expected to push-up the population of goat livestock in the country.
Mr Majuru said this will help meet the rising demand of Zimbabwe-produced goat and sheep meat in international markets, whose ready market was confirmed to local farmers who attended the Dubai Inward Buyer’s Mission, organised recently by ZimTrade.
“Already, some organisations have committed to work with private players to get Halal Certification, which is a requirement when exporting meat and other food products to the United Arab Emirates,” he said.-Chronicle.c.zw
