May 10, 2013

Tanzania spends US$6 million on meat imports

Despite producing over 460,000 tonnes of meat annually, Tanzania still spends some TZS10 billion (US$6.14 million) on meat imports for the hospitality industry.

Due to what the Deputy Minister for Livestock and Fisheries Development, Benedict Ole-Nangoro, described as lack of high quality meat in the domestic market, the country still spends some TZS10 billion (US$6.14 million) on meat imports for the hospitality industry. The minister asked livestock keepers to conduct their activities commercially and produce high quality meat for the lucrative mining and hospitality industry markets.

He was answering a question by Rose Kamili (Special Seats - Chadema), who wanted to know the amount of money the country saved for not importing meat. The legislator also wanted to know whether the government could invest the saved amount in developing the livestock sector. Ole-Nangoro said the country produces 462,686 tonnes of meat annually for domestic consumption but also imports 800 tonnes to meet demand for tourist hotels and mines.

Tanzania also earns substantial amounts of foreign currency from the export of meat and live animals. The deputy minister cited the 2011-12 statistics that show that the country earned TZS3.81 billion (US$2.3 million) from the export of 3,362 cattle and 4,060 goats and sheep. He said the amount saved from not importing meat was not kept specifically for the livestock sector but was spent for the development of all sectors, including livestock.

Responding to a supplementary question by Pauline Gekul (Special Seats - Chadema), who decried the mistreatment of livestock keepers in the country and unstable pricing of livestock, the deputy minister said the government had already earmarked special areas for modern and profitable livestock keeping.

He asked livestock keepers to market their animals through official channels to get good prices, saying the government had already directed the pricing of animals at official auctions be based on kilogrammes.