THE Cold Storage Company (CSC) has partnered with a local fuel company to roll out a restocking and recapitalisation programme, which will see farmers getting heifers on loan basis to grow their herd.

The Government is nursing CSC, which is poised for a rebound backed by the coming on board of partners, to ensure it spearheads the Command Livestock programme whose working document is awaiting Cabinet approval.

A new CSC board was recently put in place while the National Social Security Authority (NSSA) has injected initial funding amounting to $18 million to kick-start CSC’s revival.

Speaking during the handover of heifers to Matabeleland South farmers under the livestock supply scheme at Maphaneni Ranch in Mangwe District last Thursday, the Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development responsible for livestock, Paddy Zhanda, said the joint venture would go a long way in capacitating farmers and reviving CSC fortunes towards exporting beef.

CSC used to be the largest meat processor in Africa, handling up to 150 000 tonnes of beef and associated by-products a year and exporting beef to the EU, where it had an annual quota of 9 100 tonnes of beef.