Let us explore the Manufacturing and Food Processing Industries in Zambia as our new topic in Civic Education and Geography or Social Studies. An industry is any activity that enables man to earn a living.
Types of Industries in Zambia
Primary industries
These involve the extraction and production of raw materials from the environment. Examples of these industries are farming, mining, forestry and fishing
Secondary industries
These are industries that use machinery to change raw materials into new products by adding value to the items made and they are divided into the following industries:
a)Processing industries: They prepare primary produce before they can be used for example maize into mealie meal.
b)Manufacturing industries: It changes raw materials into new products e.g. sugar cane into sugar.
Service or tertiary industries
It is an industry which provides services like education, banks, health, security and transport.
Factors influencing the location of industries
There are a number of factors that affect the location of an industry: transport, raw material, labour, power, market, government policies
- An industry needs to be located near cheap transport. To get raw material to the factory and to get manufactured goods to the customer
- Raw materials are processed close to where they are found in order to cut on transport. Perishable raw material must be processed as quickly as possible
- Abundant labour includes both skilled and unskilled labour force and is needed in an industry
- Power is needed for most industries to operate properly
- Government policies encourage the establishment of industries in all parts of the country in order to ensure equitable
- Market: industries need to sell the products that they produce. Nearness to market helps reducing transport costs.
- Government policies: Governments may encourage industrial development in some areas and restrict it in others. Multi-facility Economic Zones (MFEZs) are special industrial zones. They are one of the government strategies aimed at achieving economic development by attracting domestic and foreign investment.
Types of manufacturing industries
•Steel making and processing of other metals(such as the smelting and refining of copper)
•Textile industries that manufacture materials and clothes
•Leather industries, for example making shoes
•Furniture making, and the making of other wood and paper products
•Brick/building block making for the building industries
•Chemical industries, including making plastic and rubber products.
Types of Food Processing Industries in Zambia
Food processing is how ingredients are changed into a form of food that can be eaten by humans or animals.
It includes industries such as the following:
- Canning of fruit, vegetables, fish and meat. e.g. Freshpikt in Lusaka produces canned fruits and vegetables
- Milling of maize and grain for flour and maize porridge
- Confectionery that make sweets and cakes
- Beverage industries that make cool drinks. E.g. Lynx Zambia Ltd in Ndola produces fruit juices, squashes, cordials
- Sugar refineries that turn sugar cane into sugar
- Meat and fish packing industries for fresh frozen products. e.g. Capital fisheries in Lusaka Packages fresh, frozen and dried fish
Manufacturing centres of Zambia
Most of the industries in these are located in these areas, Copper belt and Lusaka due to:
Copperbelt
•Good network of transport by road or rail
•Cheap and plenty hydroelectric power from Kariba and Kafue gorges
•Cheap and plenty of labour
•Ready market provided by many people who are in copper belt
Lusaka
• Good network of transport
• Its centrally located
• Nearer to areas of raw materials
• It has access to hydroelectric power
• Large population improves the marketing of goods and even provides cheap labour
Challenges faced manufacturing and processing industries
Secondary industries in Zambia face a number of challenges:
- High energy costs especially to electricity whose rates increases frequently
- Long routes to sea make the transportation of goods expensive
- Many industries in Zambia depend on imported raw materials
- Stiff competition from cheap imported products.
- Frequent depreciation of the currency.
- Cost of raw materials: raw materials are expensive.
- Technology: manufacturing requires more advanced technology to keep up with international competition, adding to production costs.
- Storage: costs of storage and suitable storage facilities, especially for perishable goods, affect these types of industries.
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