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Business Reporter
Demand for pork and pork products is decreasing countrywide owing to a fall in disposable income, a Pig Industry Board official has said.
PIB director Mr Andrew Shonhiwa told The Herald that slowing pork demand accompanied by a serious liquidity crisis will cause pork supplies to swell and force price reductions something which could harm the viability of the industry.

“Liquidity remains a challenge in the economy hence effective demand for pork has declined. Prices for pork are being reduced to stimulate demand but are worried because demand still remains sluggish,” he said.

“In the second quarter of this year, we recorded a 4,4 percent increase in the number of slaughters compared to the same period last year.
‘‘We are concerned that we have huge stocks of pork cold storage rooms and less people are consuming it.”

Some analysts suggest that weakening demand could be due to consumers switching from pork to cheaper meats such as chicken, offals and fish.

They also said that economic pressures on consumers, falling disposable incomes, liquidity crisis and failure by many companies to pay workers on time was forcing many people to tighten their consumption pat-                                                                                                terns.

“Cash is tight, company closures and non-payment of workers are making things tough for everyone,” said one economic analyst.
Mr Shonhiwa said there was need to cut down on stockfeed imports and ensure the country produces its own feed.

“Shortages of protein supplement and stockfeed is sometimes a challenge but as a nation we need to produce our own products, in this case our own maize and soya so that we do not have to import it from other countries,” he said.

Pig production has been increasing since 2011 after the adoption of a multi-currency regime.
A total of 13 076 pigs were slaughtered in registered abattoirs during the first month of this year against 11 570 slaughtered the previous year and 10 257 in 2011.

The imposition of duty on imported products helped the local industry to recover.
More farmers countrywide are taking up piggery due to the improved availability of stockfeeds and parent stock on the local market.