Northern Province Minister Brian Mundubile laments that the province imports beef and dairy products from other parts of the country to meet the shortfall despite the province accounting for about ten percent of total cattle population in Zambia.

The provincial minister says this makes beef and dairy products in Northern Province very expensive due to transportation and handling costs.

Mr. Mundubile says beef cattle are found in Mbala and Mungwi Districts, accounting for one hundred and seventy thousand representing ten percent of the total cattle population in Zambia.

Mr. Mundubile states that the entire Province itself is already market for beef and dairy products.

“Not only is there great potential to produce and market beef and dairy cattle, but also the by-products such as hides, hooves, horns, blood just to mention a few,” he said.

He explains that beef and dairy products occupy a very important position in the economy of the country for both local and export markets further adding that cattle provide excellent organic manure that could be commercially processed and used in crop production to reduce dependence on expensive inorganic fertilizers.

”The economic importance of sheep and goats is based on the large number of stock that can be kept on a relatively small area adding that sheep and goats have an excellent breeding cycle, producing twins (sometimes triplets) per gestation.

Mr. Mundubile says of late there has been a demand for goat and sheep from Saudi Arabia and the Government has since entered into an agreement with that country for the exportation of the same.

He has since encouraged citizens to venture into production of sheep and goat noting that the other market is the DR Congo who is in constant demand of goat meat.