Small African Towns by Poul Ove Pedersen

Author:Poul Ove Pedersen [Pedersen, Poul Ove]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Social Science, General
ISBN: 9780429800009
Google: jWClDwAAQBAJ
Barnesnoble:
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2019-06-05T00:00:00+00:00

Livestock sub-sector

Before structural adjustment, the meat industry was partially controlled by the Cold Storage Commission (CSC), which runs abattoirs in the large towns. The CSC bought most of its cattle from the large commercial farmers and much less from the communal areas. It had a partial monopoly on meat sales to the large towns, but at present the monopoly is heavily undermined by small private abattoirs operating just outside the towns. They buy cattle from farmers near the towns and mus have low costs. Therefore they can pay farmers more than the CSC and still be profitable. The CSC which has been expanding its production capacity rapidly since independence now has a market share of less than 50 per cent and as a result considerable over-capacity. At the same time, at the price level existing before structural adjustment there was a large unsatisfied demand for meat, and the CSC has regularly had to ration its deliveries. It has therefore been very keen on increasing its intake from the communal areas. It operates a livestock development scheme which finances the feeding of cattle from the communal areas for slaughtering.

The CSC is not represented in Gutu or in Gokwe, where meat is sold by a number of small butchers: in 1990 there were nine in Gutu and four in Gokwe. However, these butchers obtain most of their meat from the CSC. They also buy some cattle directly from commercial farmers, but very few from the communal areas, where cattle are generally of low quality. The butchers buy mainly from other sources when the CSC is unable to deliver, which happens regularly.

In addition to butchers, the livestock sub-sector includes soap factories. In Gutu in 1990, there was a relatively large soap producer (its soap production moved to Masvingo in 1994), while the Gokwe producer was very small and mostly out of production. It later closed. The soap factories base their production on tallow and caustic soda. Before trade liberalization tallow was in principle delivered by the CSC, which was, however, often unable to meet demand. Some tallow was imported, but deliveries were uncertain and the soap factories regularly found themselves short of input.

Finally, there is a hide buyer in Gokwe who buys hides from domestic animals for reselling to tanneries in the large towns. In Gutu there is no such enterprise, although mobile buyers travel the district.

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