Ole
JF-Expert Member
- Dec 16, 2006
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Hapa Kazi tu.
Meat factory full production early next year
FULL production of the 10 million US dollars (over 23bn/-) TanChoice meat processing factory with capacity to slaughter 1,000 cattle and 4,500 goats/sheep daily is expected early next year.
The TanChoice meat processing factory located at Soga in Kibaha District, Coast Region obtained the Export Processing Zone (EPZ) developer’s license from the Export Processing Zones Authority (EPZA) last year.
“This project expected to create over 500 direct jobs will strategically help the livestock sector graduate and unlock the challenges of commercialising it,” said the EPZA Investment Promotion Director Mr James Maziku in Dar es Salaam on Thursday, adding that the construction works has reached 99 per cent with trials of the machines scheduled before end of the year.
The meat processing factory with five slaughter lines is the largest in East Africa and second after the Ethiopian meat processing plant having the capacity of slaughtering 3,000 cattle and 6,000 sheep and goats daily upon operating at full capacity, enabling the company to produce 300 tonnes of meat a day.
Despite accounting for 11 per cent of the African cattle population, livestock related activities contributes only 7.4 per cent to Tanzania’s GDP and growth of the livestock sector at 2.6 per cent is low.
“The meat processing factory will reduce and ultimately end smuggling of livestock to the neighbouring countries that has been reaping immense benefits from processing and exporting various livestock products,” he noted.
Tanzania has one of the largest livestock populations in Africa with 13.5 million heads of cattle, 5.5 million goats, 3.6 million sheep, 0.4 million pigs and 23.2 million chickens, according to statistics by the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries.
As the meat factory targets 100 per cent export markets of European Union and Arab United Emirates, will also make Tanzania compete with Botswana that has the most advanced commercialised livestock sector in the continent generating billions in export earnings.
Mr Maziku said the establishment of the Tan Choice meat processing plant will create a new middle class Cluster of business dealing with fattening of cattle, goats and sheep for supplying to the factory.
“The investor of the meat processing plant cannot do everything and thus the local investors should grab this opportunity to establish fattening activities of cattle, goats and sheep needed in the factory,” he added.
The byproducts during the slaughter process namely livers, brains, hearts, sweetbreads (thymus and pancreas), fries (testicles), kidneys, oxtails, tripe (stomach of cattle), and tongue will be sold in the local market and others exported to the huge Chinese market.
Also some byproducts like the blood from the animal slaughtering are important raw material for the production of poultry feeds.
The Cow horns and hoofs are used for making buttons for clothes and handbags. Furthermore, the strategic location of the meat factory close to the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) will provide easy access to the port and the regions with high population of cattle, goats and sheep.
