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Luthando Mapepa Chipinge Correspondent
Chipinge District is facing shortage of beef after Government banned the selling of the product due to a recent outbreak of foot and mouth disease in the area.

The shortages has resulted in the price of a kilogramme of beef rising from $3, 50 per kilogramme to $6 per kg at the few butcheries still selling the product.

A survey by The Herald Eastern Edition showed that some businesspeople from Mutare and Marondera were making brisk business in Chipinge through supplying beef to butcheries.

Only leading retail supermarkets chains such as OK and TM supermarkets are selling beef, but are failing to meet the high demand.

A businessman who runs a butchery, Mr Simon Sithole, said some of the leading abattoirs were refusing to sell meat to small businesses.

“Big beef suppliers are failing to meet the demand here. When they come with their products, they are just targeting big supermarkets. We are now being short-changed and we are calling for fair play. We also have some overheads to meet,” he said.

An employee with one of the leading suppliers who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the demand for beef had risen sharply following the outbreak of foot and mouth disease.

He said some butcheries were now selling meat in backyard outlets fearing prosecution.

“The Veterinary Department has banned the slaughtering and trading of beef here after the outbreak of foot and mouth.

“We were left with no option, but to engage our colleagues as far as Mutare and Marondera to supply us with beef which we are selling clandestinely to avoid arrest,” he said.

Initially Government had banned the purchase of beef in the red zone of the district, but recently all the movement and selling of meat was banned after the disease was reported to have spread to all corners of the district.