By CHATULA KANGALI –
THE ministry of Livestock and Fisheries, through the Small Agribusiness Promotion Programme (SAPP), has introduced a grading and pricing system for pigs and goats in the country.
The system is aimed at encouraging small-scale farmers to produce quality animals for both local and international markets.
According to the latest Zambia National Farmers Union (ZNFU) website update, the grading system would also be used as a basis for negotiations during transactions between the farmers and buyers.
This came to light during a stakeholders’ meeting in Lusaka to review a consultancy report on the grading and pricing system in Zambia.
The stakeholders present at the meeting called on the Government to consider enacting laws that would regulate live grading of animals with their carcasses to govern the pig and goat industry.
“The process should ensure private sector participation and it should not disadvantage producers, especially small-scale farmers through increased costs arising from implementation of the system and unfair grading of pigs and goats by buyers,” the stakeholders resolved.
The stakeholders further appealed for infrastructure such as livestock service centres for bulking and marketing, in addition to capacity building for all the interest groups.
