October 8, 2012

Swaziland aids pig farmers by establishing quarantine plant

Swaziland's Agricultural Development Programme (SADP) has lately aided the country's pig farmers by contributing to the establishment of a quarantine plant that will store imported pigs until they are declared safe for distribution.

The quarantine facility, based at Mpisi farm will serve 800 farmers.

Swaziland's Ministry of Agriculture has trained more than 786 pig farmers from 2011 to 2012, and reports that some 120 farmers enter the pig industry every month in Swaziland.

Swaziland's pig industry is highly subsisdised by the government, and is a net importer of pig and pig products. Minister of Agriculture, Clement Dlamini, commenting on the new pig quarantine installation, said that government wants to scale up local pork production and quality, in view of food security and biosecurity.

"Pork demand in Swaziland remains too high and it is for this reason that we challenge pig farmers to increase their production," he said.

Since 2009, the EU has been supporting a wide-ranging initiative of the government and FAO to raise nutrition levels of the rural population and stimulate their economic growth potential, known as the Swaziland Agricultural Development Project (SADP), a 5-years programme funded by the FAO.

To support the younger generation, SADP is helping youth groups set up small agricultural businesses. Sixty groups, comprising around 2,500 youths, are engaged in pig production, poultry farming or vegetable and field crop production. They get the equipment, tools, inputs, medicines and training to make their business run.

Louise McDonald, country programme manager for the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) for Swaziland, says that SADP's achievements have strengthened collaboration between IFAD and FAO in assisting the government and smallholder farmers. "Together, we will work on bridging SADP's activities with a US$47 million program to be co-financed by IFAD", she says.