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Harare Bureau
THE volume of livestock slaughtered in Zimbabwe increased 8 percent last year, largely driven by cattle and pigs, according to latest statistics from Zimstat.About 426,400 animals were slaughtered in 2013 up from 394,500 a year earlier, with almost a 20 percent growth registered in pigs, the national agency said in its Quarterly Digest of Statistics for the last three months of 2013. The value of slaughtered animals grew 16 percent to $152 million last year from the prior year.
State owned Cold Storage Company slaughtered about 16,400 cattle last year from 14,900 in 2012, helped by a service slaughter deal with Botswana Meat Commission.
Private abattoirs slaughtered about 244,700 animals last year from 242,100 cattle in 2012.
CSC, now largely surviving on service slaughter, lost its market to private players after the liberalisation of beef industry in 1992. This worsened after the European Union suspended imports from Zimbabwe in 2001 after an outbreak of foot and mouth.
The government deregulated the industry in 1992, but thereafter CSC plunged into a viability crisis following the sharp decline of cattle throughput.
In just one year after the deregulation, the company had lost about 50 percent of the market. Its ranches used to accommodate between 20,000 and 25,000 beasts at any given time.
Colcom, a Zimbabwe Stock Exchange listed company slaughtered 99,300 pigs in 2013 up from 82,500 in 2012. Slaughtering volumes at butcheries and abattoirs rose to 46,600 last year from 40,000 in the previous year.
Sheep slaughtering was flat at 5,200 heads.
The value of cattle slaughtered was up to $122,8 million from $106,2 million a year ago, pigs at $28,7 million from $24,7 million and goats at $321,000 from $343,000. The value of sheep slaughtered declined from $210,000 in 2012 to $208,000 last year.
The same report also shows that milk production decreased by about 11,7 percent to 49,5 million litres. Intake by processors was up 48,7 million litres from 44,5 million litres.
Milk retailed by producers decreased to five million litres to 7,2 million litres, said Zimstat. The value of milk production also dropped to $22,3 million from $24,6 million.
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