BUSINESS - ECONOMY
| 2013-08-12Zambia struggles to penetrate southern Africa poultry market
LUSAKA – Poultry farmers in Zambia complained that they are finding it difficult to penetrate the southern African poultry market because of high production costs, an industry official said on Friday.
Mathews Ngosa, executive manager of the Poultry Association of Zambia (PAZ), said exporting chicken meat to the region has proved difficult because Zambia’s poultry industry is not competitive because of high production costs.
“We are not exporting chicken meat because Zambia is not competitive. It is profitable to sell locally. So whatever we produce is being sold locally. South Africa has so far dominated the regional poultry industry,” he said.
According to him, high production costs such as the high cost of feed stocks, the cost of energy and labor were among the issues that the industry was facing and making the cost of production high.
The official, however, said Zambia was exporting hatchery eggs and breeding stocks to the region and that plans to expand production were currently underway by players.
About US160 million has so far been spent on expansion of hatcheries, establishment of new breeder farms as well as bringing of processing equipment, he added.
Meanwhile, demand for chicken meat and other products on the local market has risen in the second half of the year.
The official said the demand for poultry industry has gone up, forcing the industry players to embark on expansion programs in order to meet the increased demand.
According to the official, per capita consumption of poultry products has trebled in Zambia in the last three years from 3,6 kilograms to 12 kilograms, adding that this was good for the future of the country’s poultry industry.
The industry official has however called on the government to help the industry deal with challenges that were threatening the future of the poultry business by removing issues such as statutory levies and taxes imposed on the industry.
“The poultry industry is heavily taxed. There are a lot of statutory levies such as local government levy, disease testing, monitoring and surveillance fees as well as import duty and VAT on importation of equipment,” he added.
– Nampa-Xinhua
Mathews Ngosa, executive manager of the Poultry Association of Zambia (PAZ), said exporting chicken meat to the region has proved difficult because Zambia’s poultry industry is not competitive because of high production costs.
“We are not exporting chicken meat because Zambia is not competitive. It is profitable to sell locally. So whatever we produce is being sold locally. South Africa has so far dominated the regional poultry industry,” he said.
According to him, high production costs such as the high cost of feed stocks, the cost of energy and labor were among the issues that the industry was facing and making the cost of production high.
The official, however, said Zambia was exporting hatchery eggs and breeding stocks to the region and that plans to expand production were currently underway by players.
About US160 million has so far been spent on expansion of hatcheries, establishment of new breeder farms as well as bringing of processing equipment, he added.
Meanwhile, demand for chicken meat and other products on the local market has risen in the second half of the year.
The official said the demand for poultry industry has gone up, forcing the industry players to embark on expansion programs in order to meet the increased demand.
According to the official, per capita consumption of poultry products has trebled in Zambia in the last three years from 3,6 kilograms to 12 kilograms, adding that this was good for the future of the country’s poultry industry.
The industry official has however called on the government to help the industry deal with challenges that were threatening the future of the poultry business by removing issues such as statutory levies and taxes imposed on the industry.
“The poultry industry is heavily taxed. There are a lot of statutory levies such as local government levy, disease testing, monitoring and surveillance fees as well as import duty and VAT on importation of equipment,” he added.
– Nampa-Xinhua
