Zambeef wins praise in Zambia’s Central Province

Speaking during a tour of Zambeef’s Huntley and Kalundu dairy farms in Chisamba, Zambia, this week, Chisopa said: “What Zambeef is doing here is a good. We came to acquaint ourselves with the operations and are ready to share ideas.”​

Zambeef employs more than 6,000 permanent staff countrywide, of which 1,300 of the workforce based at Huntley Farm in Chisamba.

Broiler chicken facility Zamhatch and palm oil business Zampalm, in Mpongwe and Mpika respectively, were nearly ready to be fully operational, said Zambeef’s joint CEO Francis Grogan.

Opportunities​

The company hoped to create more opportunities for farmers and communities in surrounding its sites, he added.

“None of this would be possible without the government’s enabling environment,”​ said Grogan. “An agribusiness such as ours requires proper infrastructure in order to get maximum production and returns. You can invest in cold rooms and build an abattoir and meat trucks but you need good people and good management to keep it going.”​

Chisopa applauded Zambeef’s 100% local procurement policy prioritising local small-scale farmers supplying cattle, pigs, milk and chickens and urged it to keep working transparently.

Beef, chicken, pork​

Zambeef is one of the largest integrated agribusinesses in Zambia and is principally involved in the production, processing, distribution and retailing of beef, chicken, pork, milk, dairy products, eggs, stock feed and flour.

The group is also in the process of rolling out its West Africa expansion in Nigeria and Ghana, as well as developing a palm project in Zambia.

It slaughters more than 60,000 beef cattle, 5.5 million chickens and 54,000 pigs per annum, while also processing 11 million litres of milk and producing 110,000 tons of stock-feed and 48 million eggs annually.

It has 138 retail outlets throughout Zambia and West Africa, plus four wholesale depots.