News / National
Zimbabwe to continue slaughtering cattle from Botswana
22 Feb 2012 at 06:45hrs | Views
Zimbabwe will continue to slaughter cattle from Botswana for the next four years a move meant to scale up production at the struggling Cold Storage Commission.
Last year, Botswana engaged the cash strapped CSC to assist in the slaughter of its foot and mouth infected cattle to curb the spread of the disease especially from Zone VI, which is along the Botswana-Zimbabwe border.
More than 45 000 cattle were slaughtered with an average of 1000 per day.
"We have extended that deal to 2014 and its part of the long term strategy between the two countries. The agreement has straightened cooperation in many ways," said Agriculture minister Joseph Made.
Botswana sort CSC assistance after realising its own meat processor, Botswana Meat Commission did not have the capacity to process about 45 000 animals from the infected area within a four-month period.
However, Made has contradicted State Enterprises and Parastatals minister Gordon Moyo who in January said the deal would not be renewed.
The deal saw CSC recruiting additional workforce to cope with the workload.
CSC has several abattoirs around the country and at its peak it had a capacity to slaughter 600 000 cattle annually.
CSC had slumped in the past years and the deal provided a lifeline for the financially hamstrung parastatal, which has been facing operational constraints and is one of 10 entities earmarked for privatisation.
The viability of the company also suffered a major setback when the European Union suspended beef imports from the country in 2001 following an outbreak of foot and mouth disease.
CSC had an annual quota to EU of 9 100 tonnes of beef. It also had $15 million revolving payment facility with EU under which it was paid in advance.
The company used to earn the country at least $45 million per year.
Last year, Botswana engaged the cash strapped CSC to assist in the slaughter of its foot and mouth infected cattle to curb the spread of the disease especially from Zone VI, which is along the Botswana-Zimbabwe border.
More than 45 000 cattle were slaughtered with an average of 1000 per day.
"We have extended that deal to 2014 and its part of the long term strategy between the two countries. The agreement has straightened cooperation in many ways," said Agriculture minister Joseph Made.
Botswana sort CSC assistance after realising its own meat processor, Botswana Meat Commission did not have the capacity to process about 45 000 animals from the infected area within a four-month period.
However, Made has contradicted State Enterprises and Parastatals minister Gordon Moyo who in January said the deal would not be renewed.
The deal saw CSC recruiting additional workforce to cope with the workload.
CSC has several abattoirs around the country and at its peak it had a capacity to slaughter 600 000 cattle annually.
CSC had slumped in the past years and the deal provided a lifeline for the financially hamstrung parastatal, which has been facing operational constraints and is one of 10 entities earmarked for privatisation.
The viability of the company also suffered a major setback when the European Union suspended beef imports from the country in 2001 following an outbreak of foot and mouth disease.
CSC had an annual quota to EU of 9 100 tonnes of beef. It also had $15 million revolving payment facility with EU under which it was paid in advance.
The company used to earn the country at least $45 million per year.
Source - Byo24News
