Heifer to support in developing slaughterhouse

Kathmandu, Aug. 21

Heifer Nepal has announced to develop five abattoirs in collaboration with five city administrations.

The facilities will be built in Biratnagar, Bharatpur and Pokhara metropolitan cities, Butwal sub-metropolis and Kohalpur Municipality in Public Private Producer Partnership (4P) model.

“The public sector will invest to establish the slaughterhouse infrastructure as a part of its social responsibility of ensuring the availability of hygienic meat to its citizens,” said Dr. Tirtha Raj Regmi, Director of Programmes at Heifer.

The producers and meat entrepreneurs will separately form their investment companies which will establish a private company with the majority of the shares owned by the investment companies of the producers.

The private companies will manage and run the abattoir.

Concerned five municipalities and provincial governments have allocated US $3 million for infrastructure while producers and meat entrepreneurs’ investment companies have committed $2 million as equity for the development of the facilities.

Animal Slaughterhouse and Meat Inspection Act of Nepal, 1999, provisions a mandatory establishment and operation of abattoirs for production and sales of hygienic meat.

“But due to lack of proper domestic supply, poor backward linkages, and inadequate public-private collaboration model, several government and private sector initiative for establishing abattoir have failed and the act has not yet been implemented,” said Dr. Regmi.

Country Director of Heifer Nepal Dr. Shubh Narayan Mahato said that his organisation had facilitated the dialogue between the producers, meat entrepreneurs and local and provincial governments on technical and business aspects of running a modern slaughterhouse.

He said that the 4P model would ensure proper supply for sustainably running the abattoir and provide equitable income to small holder farmers.

Minister for Agriculture and Livestock Development Chakrapani Khanal said that it was unfortunate that the country that involved about two thirds of its people in agriculture had been importing food in recent years.

“Agriculture has high potential to resolve unemployment problem, but we have failed to utilise the potential of the sector. The ministry has given priority to modernisation and commercialisation of agriculture sector,” he said.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 22 August 2019.