Chronicle Editor
Senior Business Reporter
A livestock production workshop targeting 200 women in goat and cattle breeding is lined up in Bulawayo to equip them with current trends of turning livestock ventures into sustainable and profitable businesses.
Bulawayo Global Consortium, a diversified limited company that offers unique and attractive investment opportunities, has scheduled a one-day workshop under the theme: “Wealth creation through investing in livestock” on July 30.
Established and aspiring farmers are expected to engage with bankers and livestock insurance providers.
Participants would be exposed to various loan schemes and insurance policies that are available for livestock farming.
Recently, calls have been made for women to venture into livestock production to achieve self-sustenance at household levels.
Bulawayo Global Consortium director and goat farmer, Mrs Sifiso Agbetorwoka said the workshop seeks to equip women on current trends of turning livestock into a profitable business and explore avenues of women collaborating and investing as a collective for maximum benefit.
“We are targeting 200 women from all provinces across Zimbabwe. We are looking for women in goat and cattle breeding and those aspiring to be goat and cattle breeders,” Mrs Agbetorwoka said.
“We will also have speakers from the banks to talk about loan schemes that are available for livestock farming. We have invited an insurance company to come and talk to us about insurance policies for livestock and agriculture in general,” she added.
Mrs Agbetorwoka said generally, women understand the power of working as a collective, therefore the workshop is also meant to demonstrate the power of working as a unit livestock investment
Aspiring farmers with or without land and those who want to diversify to livestock or scale-up productivity are expected to attend.
Prominent farmer, Dr Themba Dlodlo of Nguni Brahman Stud Breeder and Mrs Racquel Mazithulela, chairlady of Izibane Beacons of Hope, a cooperative of women cattle Breeders are set to make presentations.
Globally, demand for goat meat is on the rise and local farmers have been urged to scale up production and target exports to increase earnings and revive the country’s economy.
According to the Trademap, a trade statistics tool by the International Trade Centre(ITC), the country’s foreign currency earnings from goat meat products rose from US$203 000 in 2019 to US$257 000 in 2020.
According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation Corporate Statistical Database (FAOSTAT), Africa is the second largest producer of goat meat in the world after Asia.
However, Zimbabwe is nowhere near the top ten producers of goat meat. A ZimStat report (2012) revealed that Zimbabwe holds only 1,62 percent of the goat population in Africa.
-@nqobilebhebhe
Online Reporter