Looks like a potentially lucrative business

Cheers, Peter
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Harare — Crocodile production firm, LakeCroc says it is aiming to increase export volumes of its crocodile products to meet international demand.

Managing director Mr Jimmyson Kazangarara said at the weekend that the company was hoping to double last year's export volumes of 23 000 skins.

"We are aiming at supplying the international market in the coming year with 54 000 skins," he said.

LakeCroc, a subsidiary of Innscor Africa and the largest producer of the species crocodylus nautilus in the world, exports both meat and skins to Europe, Asia and also supplies the local market.

Mr Kazangarara said 82 new pens were under construction and were set for completion by April next year.

"We are currently building new pens to increase production space for crocodiles and also to improve skin quality as smaller space results in them biting each other which affects skin quality," he said.

He said they were also planning to expand the farm, which has six units and 5 000 breeders, to accommodate new hatchlings.

"The industry's mortality rate is 15 percent per annum but ours is three percent thus we need more space for new hatchlings," he said.


Meanwhile, Mr Kazangarara said they would also construct a feed production unit to counter challenges faced in securing food.

"Condemnations from butcheries have in recent times become scarce thus we have formulated our own feed made up of maize, blood and carcass meal and a unit is being set up to produce the feed," he said.

Crocodiles at LakeCroc are harvested after 29 months.

Mr Kazangarara said the farm, which employs more than 1 500 people, had potential to dominate the international market.

they can feed them the starved people