A call for improvements to the Arusha slaughterhouse in the Tanzania industry sector was recently made by the Deputy Minister for Livestock and Fisheries Development, Dr. James Wanyancha, who spoke during the official opening of the Nane Nane Agriculture Show for the Northern Zone.
In addition, Mr. Wanyancha went on to say that the government also currently has plans to construct another abattoir in the Northern Zone in an attempt to stop the current trend of ferrying cattle to the neighboring countries for meat processing.
“Thousands of livestock from Arusha, Ngorongoro, Monduli, Longido and Loliondo were being taken across the border into Kenya where they get slaughtered and the processed meat or milk products brought back here where we buy them at higher prices,” explained Mr. Wanyancha in a Daily News report.
The minister went on to explain that the government would like to make turn Northern Zone into a proper meat processing area where animal products will not only be produced for exportation as well as for local consumption.
In order to begin moving in this direction, Mr. Wanyancha has instructed regional officials to strengthen the Arusha Meat Company (AMC), which is currently run by the Municipal Council, and to improve the abattoir so that it reached its full productivity level.
Currently, the AMC also operates its slaughterhouse in the Sakina-Azimio area, which is the only such facility in East and Central Africa.
However, this Sakina slaughterhouse is not being utilized to its full potential, which is demonstrated by the fact that it has the capacity of butchering approximately 600 animals per day and storing meat in excellent conditions for weeks, but is currently only recording 160 animals daily.
Additionally, a number of reports from the Municipal Council have indicated that the abattoir has been registering losses for quite some time due to the fact that because, while more than 160 animals were being slaughtered daily, only 60 of them were being recorded, resulting in more than a 60 percent loss of the total daily earnings.
The Sakina slaughterhouse, which survived a threatened boycott of its products in 2007 following the announcement that it would be raising its fees between 25 and 95 percent, is located along Namanga-Nairobi road and is a modern facility with and additional production division that is in charge of making a variety of different beef sausages
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