North West to have abattoir

AN abattoir to cost over K600, 000 meant to enable local farmers sell their meat products to a wider market will this year be set up in North Western Province by Barrick Lumwana Mine and the Royal Mumena Establishment.

The abattoir, which is nearing completion, will be set up in Mumena chiefdom and will also be supported by the mine-sponsored Lumwana Community Trust. The abattoir is expected to generate millions of Kwacha in revenue, create employment, and radically transform the livelihoods of the thousands of farmers who raise chickens, goats and other animals. According to Mining for Zambia, the abattoir will accept meat from local farmers; and then clean, dress and package it for storage in freezers. Despite the huge market potential, the abattoir is starting out small and targeting an initial production of 32, 000 dressed birds a week. The plan is to start with chickens before moving into goats and other forms of livestock, because chickens are popular in the region and many people raise them. Commenting on the development, project coordinator, Mercy Samanana said the aim of the project was to expand to an extent where it would be able to export products to neighbouring countries such as Angola. Ms. Samanana said she was optimistic that the project would be successful owing to its solid foundation. “Our long-term objective is to grow this abattoir until it reaches a level where we can export to neighbouring countries like the Democratic Republic of Congo and Angola. We know we’ll eventually get there,” she said. And a committee member of the Royal Mumena Establishment, Bonnard Fumpa, explained that a single mine kitchen easily devours some 40, 000 birds a month. Mr. Fumpa said locals trying to sell their chickens to the mines were running up against the strict procurement standards of industrial caterers, who required chickens to be properly cleaned, processed and packaged. “The Royal Mumena Establishment had many meetings with farmers to discuss this problem. The idea of an abattoir slowly began to gain ground, and ended up being enthusiastically accepted by the community,” Mr. Fumpa said.