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In a telephone interview, he said the shortage of funds was seriously hindering efforts by many farmers to revive the ostrich industry.

A lot of farmers in Matabeleland are struggling to get back into the ostrich farming industry due to lack of finance.

“Most of these farmers went out of business due to the economic meltdown that affected Zimbabwe during the last decade,” he said.

Mr Khumalo said most of the farmers were struggling to secure loans to boost their businesses, as they did not have collateral required by most financial institutions.

“In Matabeleland there is only one farmer who is into serious ostrich production and other farmers are financially struggling to get back on their feet,” he said.

Mr Khumalo said the decrease in ostrich production also affected people that worked on farms because most of them lost their jobs.

“Ostrich farming is still facing challenges and this has forced some farmers to suspend operations,” he said.

Zimbabwe used to produce a lot of ostriches and exported ostrich skins and meat to countries in Europe.