Pork glut hits Mat’land

Markets
THERE is a glut of pork in Matabeleland due to the off-loading of the product from the northern parts of the country as producers fear a drastic drop in prices.

THERE is a glut of pork in Matabeleland due to the off-loading of the product from the northern parts of the country as producers fear a drastic drop in prices.

MTHANDAZO NYONI OWN CORRESPONDENT

A kg of pork now costs $3,50 from $4,90 last month attributed to an oversupply t of the meat in the market.

Poultry industry players in Bulawayo and Matabeleland yesterday confirmed a drop in the price of pork, but blamed it on Harare producers they accused of dumping pork in the region as they seek extra markets.

Zimbabwe Association of Pig Producers vice-president and Matabeleland region chairman Winston Babbage said they received reports that some shops in Bulawayo were bringing in pork from Harare thereby sidelining producers in Matabeleland.

“We have received reports that some shops in Bulawayo are bringing in pork from Harare and we are saying no to that,” he said.

“We will approach the minister concerned to rectify the issue.”

Babbage said some farmers in rural areas were being short-changed by the middle-men who buy their livestock at lower prices and then resell them at higher prices.

He urged farmers to organise themselves and market their livestock in the city.

He called upon the Zimbabwe Commercial Farmers’ Union to help them introduce programmes to teach rural farmers how to produce pork products such as bacon and polony for sustainability.

The Pig Industry Board director Andrew Shonhiwa said the pig market in Zimbabwe was very small as compared to last year.

He attributed that to the liquidity crunch currently biting the country.

“The pig market is soft. The demand is very low because of the liquidity crunch and people tend to make priorities in terms of hierarchy of needs,” Shonhiwa said.

Last year a 50kg bag of stockfeed cost an average $25 in Harare while in Bulawayo it was going for $30.

The pig slaughter price in Harare averaged $10 whereas it was high in Bulawayo at $25.

Pig farmers in Matabeleland region lamented being disadvantaged by limited stockfeed sellers in Bulawayo and these were National Foods and AgriFoods.

This, they said was limiting their choices whereas Harare had plenty of options.