The Sunday News
Njabulo Bhebe, Sunday News Correspondent
THE Value Chain Alliance for Livestock Upgrading and Empowerment (Value) says it has launched Meat Marketing Centres in a bid to ensure a ready market for farmers across the country.
The establishment of the meat centres is part of a four-year European Union (EU) funded Value Chain Alliance for Livestock Upgrading Empowerment programme set to end next year and is being implemented by Action Aid Zimbabwe as the leading organisation in partnership with COSV and Mercy Corps together with private players in the livestock sector.
Action Aid Zimbabwe team leader Mr Newton Chari said the construction of Meat Marketing centres was underway and only one had reached completion stage and was already operational.
“We have started construction of Meat Marketing Centres whose aim is to provide value chain producers with a ready market for their produce.
In the meantime, we are focusing on pork producers and we recently launched a pork distribution centre in Kuwadzana Extension suburb in Harare.
“Plans are underway to establish a second pork distribution centre in the coming months.
The programme will be implemented across the country with major areas being Harare and Bulawayo as we believe these two provinces hold the highest number of customers targeted by the programme,” said Mr Chari
He added that finding markets for end produce was a major challenge faced by producers hence the establishment of meat marketing centres was tailor-made to assist value chain farmers with a ready market as this was the crucial stage that would ensure farmers received value for their proceeds.
“The establishment of the centres is paramount as it provides farmers with a readily available market for their porkers which eliminates challenges experienced when looking for markets by small and medium scale producers.
“Farmers through these centres will be able to gain more control of the value chain governance through direct marketing of their products and earn more from sale of meat and other value addition products such as sausages,” he added.
The project has so far seen US$20 000 being invested in the establishment of the Kuwadzana Pork Distribution Centre which is being run by the Mashonaland East Pork Producers Business Syndicate through its business vehicle, the Business Management Unit.
“Currently, a total of US$20 000 has been invested in the construction of our first meat marketing centre and we intend to begin construction of another one in Bulawayo soon so that we can be able to cater for all our producers in the country,” said Mr Chari.
He further noted that the organisation was working timelessly in ensuring that farmers were financially supported through the provision of loans which provided farmers with working capital“The VALUE project engaged first Mutual Micro Finance, a formal financing institution to provide loans to farmers registered under the project to ease the challenge of raising working capital that has handicapped small and medium producers in Zimbabwe.
“The loans are availed to farmers at an interest rate of nine percent and were used to purchase critical inputs, particularly feed, which constitutes between 80 to 90 percent of production costs in pig production,” he added.
