ZAMBIA – In an effort to provide easily accessible, clean and safe water to local people in its areas of operation, Zambia based Zambeef Products Plc has donated water points valued at K250,000 (US$15,800) to Kafue District’s Makanya village.

The water points comprising of 3 3000 litre tanks and 3 2000 litre tanks- have been strategically placed at key locations in the village and are expected to benefit over 300 households.

The move by the agribusiness company supports government’s efforts in the operationalisation of the Sustainable Development Goal on water and sanitation (SDG 6), which focuses on ensuring a clean and stable water supply and effective water sanitation for all people by the year 2030.

Speaking during the handover ceremony, Zambeef Chief Executive Officer, Faith Mukutu said the company’s environmental and social action plan aimed to target all areas along the value chain-from its undertakings, all the way to the end users, ensuring they benefited from its operations.

“At Zambeef, we believe delivering a positive impact on our communities begins with us recognising areas which need to be addressed in our endeavour to support local people and promote the best sustainability practices,” said Ms Mukutu.

It was noted that access to safe and affordable drinking water was not only key, but that it required the Company to invest in adequate infrastructure and the provision of the sanitation facilities and encourage.

“As one of the leading private sector players in Zambia, we understand the importance of investing in water resources and we are committed to supporting this move for the very reason that water is life, and without it, we cannot survive as humans.

“This is why as a business that relies on the resource for our day-to-day activities, we continue to invest in systems that will see us preserve water not only for ourselves but also for surrounding communities,” she added.

The integrated cold chain foods and retail business recently announced it had received US$35 million financing from IFC to back its recently unveiled US$100 million expansion plan.

Under the three-year plan, the company seeks to expand its crop production while adding associated value and capacity to the company’s stockfeed, milling, meat processing, retailing operations and enable it to source more key inputs, such as wheat, dairy, and animal feed ingredients, from local suppliers.

Central to the investment strategy will be a doubling of wheat and soybean capacity at the company’s Mpongwe farms, with the area under cultivation growing from the current 3,343 hectares under irrigation and 7,621 hectares of rainfed cropping.

To this end, IFC has joined forces with Zambeef to boost food security and strengthen Zambia’s agricultural sector to create jobs and help fight poverty.

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