KAZABU ANTICIPATES SHORTAGE OF PORK

By Jessica Mwansa

With the massive slaughtering of pigs due to the swine fever outbreak, it is expected that pork products will be scarce and expensive on the market especially in Lusaka due to low supply, former Minister of Agriculture and Livestock Luxon Kazabu has said.

Speaking to The Scoop, Mr. Kazabu said farmers who rear pigs in the affected area were expected to slaughter all their pigs though it will be a big blow for the farmers as well as the pork consumers.

He said once the slaughtering exercise was complete as directed by the Ministry of Agriculture, companies that make and sell pork products will encounter scarcity of pigs hence the price was expected to be hiked. 

 “With the outbreak of the swine fever in Chongwe District, farmers should ensure that all the animals in the affected area are slaughtered regardless of others not showing symptoms. This is to avoid the further spreading of the disease to other areas.

“The Government should consider putting in place incentives that will help the farmers get compensated for their animals especially during disease outbreaks because with swine fever once it breaks out it can only be controlled by animal quarantine, slaughtering and burning of carcasses and its meat products should not be consumed,” Mr. Kazabu said.

No pigs or pig products should be allowed to enter or leave the affected area. However, owners of the affected animals should ensure that once these animals are slaughtered, they should either be buried or burnt to prevent their products from being sold or consumed,” he said.

He urged the livestock farmers to be responsible by following the management rules and adhere to the Government’s measures put in place.

“In as much as it is saddening and a big loss to the affected farmers, slaughtering and burning the pig carcasses is the only solution at hand to prevent the disease from affecting other areas. Therefore, once the farmer notices that the pigs look weak and not active that should be a signal enough to slaughter all the animals regardless of whether they are or not showing active signs.

“Unfortunately, swine fever is a management disease therefore the owners of the pigs should manage the animals in a manner that will not expose them to diseases. Pig owners should restrict entrance and exit of people into their farms where these animals are kept and avoid the animals from getting infected because allowing free movement of people and other animals is a risk,” he said.

He added that the only solution to prevent swine fever was to know how to manage the animals because farmers were rarely compensated despite making losses after losing so many animals.

“Livestock farmers should ensure that they properly manage their farms to protect their animals from contracting diseases which are very infectious and deadly,” he said.