Zambeef Products has unveiled a US$100 million expansion plan that will double its Mpongwe Farms crop production while adding associated value and capacity to the company’s stockfeed, meat processing and retailing operations.
The investment will ensure national food security and boost the Zambian economy through job creation, increased tax revenue and a deepening of the market for small-scale and emerging farmers across the country.
“Zambeef is proud to announce an investment of this magnitude, doubling the cropping capacity at a time when Zambia, Africa and the world need investments of this nature. The expansion will also mean even more cash getting into the farthest corners of our rural areas as we increase employment and buy more livestock from our local farmers,” said Zambeef Board Chairman Michael Mundashi.
“The investment will entrench our position as the number one vertically integrated cold chain food products and agribusiness company in Zambia and the region. The last two decades have seen the group grow significantly in the scale of our operations and we are looking forward at the next phase of growth.”
Central to the investment strategy will be a doubling of wheat and soybean capacity at the company’s Mpongwe farms, with the area under cultivation growing from the current 3,343 hectares under irrigation and 7,621 hectares of rainfed cropping. The first crop from the expanded operations is expected to be planted in the winter of 2023 with capacity upgrades to milling and processing facilities running in parallel.
The plan will deliver improved production efficiency and capacity that will filter through the company’s vertically integrated food value chains.
“This investment is proof of the company’s commitment and belief in the country’s ambition of becoming the regional food basket. The investment programme could not have come at a better time, as the world is grappling with record food inflation and an imminent food crisis,” said Mr Mundashi.
Zambeef, which is listed on the Lusaka Securities Exchange (LuSE) and the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) of the London Stock Exchange, is in the process of securing funding for the expansion, and is confident that the current pro-business stance of the New Dawn government would attract international funding, he added.
The investment will also strengthen the company’s environmental and sustainability agenda through upgrading and optimisation of existing facilities.
