Oliver Kazunga, Senior Business Reporter
THE Value Chain Alliance for Livestock Upgrading and Empowerment (VALUE) has imported 245 high-yielding pig breeding stock from South Africa to improve pork production in the country.

VALUE said the breeding stock was delivered in the country at the beginning of the month and is currently under quarantine for 21 days at the Pig Industry Board (PIB).

“VALUE has completed the importation of 245 pig breeding stock consisting grand parent and parent stock of Duroc, Landrace and Largewhite breeds,” it said.

VALUE is a project under the European Union funded by the Zimbabwe Agricultural Growth Programme running for four years between 2019 and 2023 led by ActionAid Zimbabwe in partnership with COSV and Mercy Corps.

Under the pork value chain, the project works with private sector players namely Braford and Shamiso farms as integrators to support small and medium producers.

“We are grateful to the Government of Zimbabwe and the European Union for supporting this noble initiative. The top-quality genetics are coming in at a time the majority of small-scale farmers have expressed interest in accessing improved genetics,” VALUE team leader Mr Newton Chari was quoted as saying.

Of late, the prevalence of tired pig genetics among small and medium pork producers has resulted in poor feed conversion ratios, increased susceptibility to diseases resulting in lower carcass weight and poor-quality meat thus affecting profits.

“The breeding stock will largely address breeding level system constraints that have otherwise affected our farmers in attaining the desired productivity, organisational efficiencies and market competitiveness,” said Mr Chari.

After the quarantine period, the pig breeding stock will be housed at Shamiso Farm (Mashonaland East Province Integrator) and Bradford Farm (Mashonaland West Province Integrator) while the other pigs will remain at the PIB.

Farmers across the country would access the genetics through these institutions in the form of boars and gilts or through artificial insemination services.

Mr Samson Chauruka from Shamiso Farm was also quoted as saying: “The recent importation of new progeny and genetics is a serious indictment to the intent and key investment for competitive and comparative capacity being built into the small-scale pig production sector and its evolution and mainstreaming into commercial pig production industry.”

It is hoped that the imported pig breeding stock will increase chances of formation of desirable qualities in an animal.