A new slaughterhouse beef processing industry started operating last Friday in the district of Panda, in the province of Inhambane. The complex has an installed capacity to process 250 tons of meat per month.

The construction of the Panda Slaughterhouse cost about four million meticais, and is one of the largest in the country.

According to the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Celso Correia, the slaughterhouse provides Inhambane with the capacity to become self-sufficient in beef production.

"We will have meat for local consumption, without having to order it from outside. There will no longer be a need for that," he said.

Initially the meat is intended for domestic consumption, but it is expected that in the near future the meat will be exported to the Asian market, namely China and Vietnam.

For now, slaughter meat will be purchased locally. But the slaughterhouse has 800 hectares of land next to it for producing its own meat.

The "sustenta" program will, through credit, finance the Panda Slaughterhouse for the purchase and further processing of all meat from the family sector in all districts.