Tanzania’s annual meat exports rise by 43 percent

Dar es Salaam. Annual meat exports grew by 43.1 percent in April 2023 compared to the same period the previous year, according to the ministry of Livestock and Fisheries.

Tanzania reported a rise of 5.511.81 tonnes of meat exports worth $15.630 million, or Sh36.73 billion, over the time, according to Livestock and Fisheries minister Abdallah Ulega, who tabled the 2023/24 budget in Parliament earlier this week.

Mr Ulega said by April 30, 2023, the country had exported 12,243.79 tonnes of meat worth $51.895 million, which is equal to Sh121.95 billion.

“When compared to 8,877.8 tonnes worth $36.265 million, which is equal to Sh85.222 billion, an increment equals 43.1 percent as of April 2023,” he said.

According to him, the export includes 457.59 tonnes of beef, 8,689.80 tonnes of goat meat, 2,969.20 tonnes of sheep, 2.10 tonnes of chicken meat, 2.40 tonnes of pork and 122.70 tonnes of other meat.

Mr Ulega attributed the increase to the massive efforts made by the Sixth Phase government under President Samia Suluhu Hassan in improving the business environment and attracting investment.

Other factors that led to the increment were the positive response of farmers’ mobilisation for livestock harvests instead of hording large quantities of domestic animals.

“These efforts have enabled the country to get meat markets in Hong Kong, Vietnam, Kuwait, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Oman, Jordan, Bahrain, Kenya, and Comoro,” he said.

However, he said the presence of six modern and accredited abattoirs significantly contributed to the meat exports.

He named the abattoirs as Alpha Choice, Chobo Investment, Tanchoice Limited, Elia Food Overseas Limited, Dodoma Abattoirs, and Nguru Hill Limited.

Furthermore, Mr Ulega said domestic meat production increased from 769,966.7 tonnes in 2021/22 to 803,264.3 tonnes in 2022/23.

According to him, the amount in tonnes and the type of meat produced in brackets are: 544,983.8 (beef); 113,781.8 (goat and goat); 96,915.6 (chicken); and 47,583.1 (pork).

Last month, The Citizen reported about a significant increase in meat exports of 65.6 percent in the first quarter of 2023 as compared to the same period in 2022.

Statistics from the Tanzania Meat Board (TMB) show that revenue generation increased by 110 percent in the first quarter of 2023 compared to the same period in 2022.

TMB data shows that the country successfully maintained the progress recorded last year, when meat exports rose during the Fifa World Cup finals held in Qatar.

According to TMB, Tanzania exported 4,577.5 tonnes of meat in the first quarter of 2023, as compared to 2,765 tonnes exported during the same period last year.

Furthermore, data shows that revenue from exports increased to Sh57.3 billion in the first quarter of this year as compared to Sh27.3 billion garnered in the preceding year.

The country has also managed to maintain and improve the value of meat exports since November 2022, when it broke the ice after exporting 1,423.012 tonnes up by 125 percent compared to 631,76 tonnes exported in the preceding month.

The volume of exports and respective generated revenue for the following four months (December 2022 to March 2023) in brackets are: 1,496.15 tonnes (Sh15.8 billion); 1,399.80 tonnes (Sh13.7 billion); 1,596.93 tonnes (Sh14.8 billion); and 1,581 tonnes (Sh14.4 billion), according to TMB.