Zimbabwe beef prices more than doubles

By Violet Gonda
10 July 2006

Consumers were last week hit by another price increase as the economy continued to deteriorate. The price of beef went up from about ZW$500 000 to ZW$1.5million per kg. Beef prices had already shot up two months ago from ZW$300 000 to ZW$500 000. This means the cost more than doubled in the last 2 months.

Our correspondent Simon Muchemwa who visited several supermarkets and butcheries in Harare said the prices vary depending on where you are. He said it is more expensive in supermarkets like Bon Marché, TM and OK where a kilogram of beef is going for around ZW$1.5million. But on the outskirts of the capital it is about ZW$750 000 per kilogram.

The depreciation of the national herd has resulted in the price of beef gradually going up as demand gets greater. Although the government blames the economic crisis on targeted sanctions imposed by some western governments and on the drought, analysts lay the blame largely on Robert Mugabe’s policies, in particular the failed agrarian reform.

The former head of the Grain Marketing Board (GMB) Renson Gasela said the effects of this are now with us and this is why there is a shortage of beef in the country. The agricultural expert said it takes a long time to grow a national herd and a lot of it had already been decimated by the drought in the early 90s. A programme had been put in place to revive the herd after the drought but Gasela said: “The herd that had been grown was adversely affected by the land reform programme.”

He said the destructive policies have meant that for example the “commercial herd, which used to support the Cold Storage Commission (CSC) so that it was able to keep abattoirs operative and export to the European Union, was decimated to less than 100 000 from around 500 000.”

Gasela said at its peak both the commercial and communal herd consisted of millions.

Zimbabwe has one of the fastest shrinking economies in the world with inflation nearly 1200%. The crisis is having a serious effect on the general population. The average monthly family basket is estimated at ZW$45million but the average consumer earns between ZW$20 & ZW$25 million a month.

Meanwhile it’s reported that the government has begun a crackdown on people using fake passports to cross the border to neighbouring countries. It is estimated that at least 100 Zimbabweans h it by economic hardships are crossing into South Africa illegally every day to source commodities that are in short supply in Zimbabwe.