1. Livestock and poultry business
opportunities for youth in the
SADC region
Obert Tada (PhD, MSc, BSc)
Department of Animal Production and Technology, Chinhoyi University of Technology, Bag
7724, Chinhoyi, Zimbabwe
Paper presented at the Youth in Agriculture Summit in Southern Africa, 03-07 August 2015, Olive
International Convention Centre, Durban, South Africa

2. Outline
• Introduction
• Concerns in the SADC
• Opportunities
• Careers in the sector
• Stifling factors
• Conclusions and Recommendations

3. Introduction
• More than 60 % of SADC region’s total land
area is suitable for livestock farming
• Estimates;
– 64 million cattle,
– 39 million sheep,
– 38 million goats,
– 7 million pigs,
– 380 million poultry.
• Livestock contribution to agriculture GDP 20 –
36%

4. SADCregiondemography
Country Population
(millions)
Population
growth
Life
expectancy
(years)
GDP/capita Poverty
fraction
Angola 20.2 2.10% 37.7 $1,940.00 70%
Botswana 2.0 1.94% 50.6 $6,520.00 30%
DRC 69.6 3.21% 57.3 $182.00 -
Lesotho 2.2 0.12% 40.0 $791.00 49%
Madagascar 21.9 2.66 % 72.5 $495.00 50%
Mozambique 23.7 1.95% 40.9 $440.00 70%
Malawi 15.4 2.75% 43.0 $288.00 55%
Mauritius 1.2 0.78% 72.9 $6,870.00 10%
South Africa 50.6 0.28% 42.5 $6,710.00 50%
Namibia 2.3 0.95% 43.1 $4,140.00 56%
Seychelles 0.9 1.00% 72.5 $9,940.00 -
Swaziland 1.2 1.31% 32.2 $2,430.00 69%
Tanzania 47.7 2.04% 50.7 $502.00 36%
Zambia 13.5 1.63% 39.5 $1,130.00 86%
Zimbabwe 13.1 1.53% 43.8 $314.00 80%
Source: FAOSTAT, 2014

5. Consumption of meats
• Livestock Data Innovation in Africa
Project, 2013
– Pork and poultry increased
– Red meat decreased
– Dietary energy has been increasing
• Nutritive value of meats
– Protein source
“I want there to be no
peasant in my kingdom
so poor that he is unable
to have a chicken in his
pot every Sunday.”
Henri de Bourbon, 1598

6. Percent Composition Raw and Cooked Meats (CV)
Product Protein Fat
Beef steak (with bone) Raw 18.7 (15) 19.4 (65)
Cooked 26.4 (16) 21.4 (63)
without bone Raw 19.2 (14) 16.9 (74)
Cooked 27.4 (15) 17.6 (75)
Pork chops Raw 19.3 (11) 15.1(61)
Cooked 27.0 (14) 20.9 (36)
Bacon Raw 6.3 (58) 69.7 (30)
Cooked 18.0 (59) 52.9 (59)
Lamb Raw 17.1 (13) 18.5 (60)
Cooked 24.7 (14) 19.2 (62)
(Pellett and Young, 2000)

7. Religion
• Religious restrictions
– Islam,
– Adventist (18 million in
Asia, Latin America
and Southern Africa)
• 1/72 people
• Vegetarians
• Vegans
– dairy products & eggs

8. SADC countries proportion of Islams
Country Proportion Number (millions)
Angola 2.5 % 0.54
Botswana 3 % 0.06
Congo, Democratic Republic 10 % 7.11
Lesotho 5 % 0.11
Madagascar 15 % 3.38
Malawi 36 % 5.87
Mauritius 16.6 % 0.22
Mozambique 20 % 4.86
Namibia 3 % 0.07
Rwanda 15 % 1.67
Seychelles 1.1 % 0
South Africa 3 % 1.59
Swaziland 10 % 0.12
Tanzania 55 % 27.01
Zambia 15 % 2.13
Zimbabwe 10 % 1.3

9. Economic value of animals
• Household
• National
• Export value
Raising cattle for beef
organically on grass, in
contrast to fattening
confined cattle on
concentrated feed, may
emit 40% less GHGs and
consume 85% less energy
than conventionally
produced beef.

10. Concerns in the SADC region
• Livestock Production offers SADC region an
opportunity for accelerated economic growth.
• There are frictional factors;
– low productivity,
– domestic supply falling short;
– lack of efficient and effective animal disease control,
– lack of marketing infrastructure,
– poor market access of livestock products,
– lack of availability of information

11. Opportunity 1/12
• Commercial production
– Organic and fair trade meat
– Species of concern
• Cattle - Beef, Dairy
• Sheep - Mutton, Wool
• Goats - Chevon, Mohair
• Rabbits
• Pigs
• Poultry - Broilers, layers (egg), village chickens (road-
runners) turkeys, geese, ducks
• Game birds - Guinea fowls, partridges, pea fowls,
pheasants, quails

12. Opportunity 2/12
• Stud breeding
– Pedigree sires
• Fetch ~5-10 times more than commercial animals
– Indigenous breeds (adaptability attributes)
• Cattle - Nguni, Mashona, Tuli, Africander, Bonsmara, Tonga
....
• Goats – Tswana, Matebele, Ganda ...
• Sheep – Sabi, Zulu ...
• Pigs – Mukota, Kolbroek, Windsnyer ....
• Chickens – Boschveld, Venda, road-runners ....

13. Opportunity 3/12
• Software development for enterprise
management
– Performance recording
– Mating systems to minimize inbreeding
– Pedigree trees
– Financial management
• Income and expenditure
cloud

14. Opportunity 4/12
• Consultancy
– For the very experienced cadres
• Enterprise evaluation and enhancement
– Opportunities for growth
– Advisory

15. Opportunity 5/12
• Research and innovation
– Production efficiency
• Feeds
• Feeding
• Breeding
• Animal health
• Reproductive technology
• Biotechnology
• Business and markets

16. Opportunity 6/12
• Product processing and value addition
– Meat
• Canning of beef for domestic market
– Milk
• Ice-cream, yoghurt, cheese, whey drinks, ....
• Powdered milk
• Colostrum (supplementary)
– By-products use
• Leather, feathers, ....

17. Opportunity 7/12
• Market linkages (hub)
– Export and product awareness
– Liberalization of international trade.
• Membership to the World Trade Organisation (WTO)
• SADC countries are part of the COMESA free trade areas
• SADC countries signed the Africa- Caribbean-Pacific-EU
Cotonou Agreement (ACP-EU) thereby having non-reciprocal
tariff preferences to ACP countries.
• Exporters have preferential market access to the EU
• Bilateral trade agreements within SADC countries
• Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA)
– Duty free export of ACP goods to the EU
• COMESA – Regional Agro-Industrial Policy
• Commodity Value Chain platforms
– Dairy, beef

18. Opportunity 8/12
• Fodder production
– The case of Swaziland
• Promotion of Sustainable Feed and Fodder Production and Utilisation:
NEPAD–CAADP BANKABLE INVESTMENT PROJECT (2005)
• Hay 10Ha, Net revenue rising
– $2300 (year 2), $3900 (year 3) .....
– Silage
– Chemical treatment of stover
• Treatment with alkali (3-4% NaOH)
– Improves digestibility
– hydrolyisis of CHO from lignin
• Urea/Ammonia treatment
– improves also N
– Vitamin/Mineral Premixes
– Stockfeed
• All animal species

19. Opportunity 9/12
• Utensils and equipment production
– Demand for processing machinery and
equipment;
• Abbattoir
• Milking (goats and cows)
• Poultry transport (prompted by welfare
issues)
• Hatchery units
• Weighing crates (small ruminants)
– Animal Tags, Tag applicator, Marker
Ink....
– Fencing

20. Opportunity 10/12
• Vet drugs and vaccine production
• Trans-boundary animal diseases
– Contagious Bovine Pleuropneumonia (CBPP);
– African Swine Fever;
– Newcastle Disease (ND);
– Avian Influenza (AI);
– Peste des Petits Ruminants (PPR)
– Rift Valley Fever; and
– Lumpy Skin Disease.
• Other disease
– Dermitophilosis

21. Opportunity 11/12
• Financing and policy for Agriculture
development
– SADC Youth Strategy & Business Plan 2015-2020
– Zambia successfully issued a $750 million sovereign
bond to support new infrastructure projects.

22. Opportunity 12/12
• Education, Research and Training
– Knowledge and capacity
– Colleges offering agricultural courses
– Reproductive technologies
• Semen production
– Agric Engineers
– Animal Breeders
– Animal Geneticists

23. Career opportunities
Pharmaceuticals
Production
Scientists
Animal Bio-
technologists

24. Stifling factors 1/2
• Resources
– Land and water
– Capital investment
– Climate/edaphic/biophysical factors
– Seed stock/germplasm
• Technical knowledge
– Short Courses (suited for practically experienced)
– Diploma – 2 years
– Degree – 3-4 years
• Legislation and policies

25. Stifling factors 2/2
• Competition from seasoned players
• Experience
• Duration of turn-over
– Production cycle
• Perceptions
– Vegetarians
– Vegans

26. Conclusion
• SADC region is suitable for livestock and
poultry enterprises
• Opportunities exist for improving efficiency of
production, food processing, stud breeding
and markets
• Stifling factors can be overcome

27. Recommendations
• Have a life-time goal
• Acquire pre-requisites continually
• Use available resources and build
If you cannot try, you shall not achieve!

28. Acknowledgements