TANZANIA – Tanzanian Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries has reported a 41.3% increment in the country’s annual meat exports to US$51.895 million, as of April 2023.
The increase in volumes shifted from 8,877.8 tonnes worth US$36.26 million to 12,243.79 tonnes of meat worth US$51.895 million.
According to the Livestock and Fisheries Minister Abdallah Ulega, the export includes 457.59 tonnes of beef, 8,689.80 tonnes of goat meat, 2,969.20 tonnes of sheep, 2.10 tonnes of chicken meat, 2.40 tonnes of pork and 122.70 tonnes of other meat.
“When compared to 8,877.8 tonnes worth US$36.265 million, an increment equals 43.1 percent as of April 2023,” he said.
Ulega attributed the increase to the massive efforts made by the government in improving the business environment and attracting investment in addition to other factors; positive farmers’ response to livestock mobilization.
“These efforts have enabled the country to get meat markets in Hong Kong, Vietnam, Kuwait, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Oman, Jordan, Bahrain, Kenya, and Comoro,” the minister noted.
Ulega however added that the presence of six modern abbaitors in the country has also contributed to to the rise in meat exports.
Last month, Tanzania Meat Board (TMB) also reported that meat export in the country had significantly increased by 65.6% from 2,765 tonnes in the same period last year to 4,577.5 tonnes in the first quarter of 2023.
Statistics from the TMB also indicated that revenue generation increased by 110% from US$11.6 million last year to US$24.3 million in the first quarter of 2023.
TMB marketing manager John Chasama, attributed the trend to the country’s achievement in maintaining already secured markets.
“We are scaling up efforts to secure the new meat markets and mobilize the youth in commercial livestock keeping and assure meat factories availability of quality raw materials,” he said.
The country has also managed to maintain and improve the value of meat export since last November 2022 when it broke the ice after exporting 1,423.012 tonnes up by 125 percent compared to 631,76 tonnes exported in the preceding month.
This follows the announcement made by TMB on measures aimed at increasing meat exports to 16,000 tonnes annually by 2026.
According to Daniel Mushi, the TMB registrar the measures put in place would see a collaboration of the board with meat factories and livestock farmers to improve on the quality of the meat produced.
He added that the TMB in collaboration with the government is inviting and promoting investments in meat processing plants and the construction of modern abattoirs.
The director of production and marketing in the Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries, Mr Steven Michael added that youths were taken for modern livestock-keeping training to ensure that Tanzania’s meat is globally recognized for its distinguished quality.
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