24 Aug 2014

The Assistant Minister of Agriculture, Mr Oreeditse Molebatsi has urged farmers to take the animal identification and traceability system seriously in order to address animal and public health concerns.

Mr Molebatsi said the identification and tractability system was also important for facilitating smooth trading with various markets.

Speaking at the official launch of the Botswana Animal Information and Traceability System recently at Pitsane, Mr Molebatsi said the government’s aim was to improve beef marketing to meet standards required by the European Union beef markets.

“We have to ensure that we produce beef of good quality in order to give end users assurance that the products offered are of the highest quality posing no threats to their health,” he said.

He said the decision to change from the previous livestock identification system was informed by challenges that include farmers not being able to identify bolused cattle, and the ministry not being able to bolus all cattle due to resource constraints.

Minister Molebatsi said the rebranded livestock identification and trace back system was user friendly since farmers could carry out most of the non-regulatory operations with minimal involvement of the Department of Veterinary Services.

“Farmers will be able to tag their own cattle with their own purchased ear tags, as well as to effect ownership transfers,” he said.

However, the Department of Veterinary Services will continue to assist farmers with capturing data particularly those without access to the Internet or having literacy challenges, he assured.

Furthermore, he urged farmers to ensure that their cattle information was captured since it was through the population of their database that they could demonstrate the functionality of the traceability system of the applied double ear tags.

Mr Molebatsi said the double ear tags were yellow in colour and that they have been priced at P20 per pair while the applicator costs P350.

“These prices have been carefully considered and should be affordable to farmers,” he added.

He said individual animal identification had not been possible due to dwindling resources and that, through the system, efforts would be achieved as they would be able to control animal diseases effectively, particularly in the red zones which had little traceability system.

“Since disease surveillance in the red zones will be enhanced by the traceability system, this will facilitate exploration of markets for beef from the red zones,” he said.

Mr Molebatsi also said the traceability system was compulsory and that the ministry has enforced the system through livestock identification regulations since inception.

In addition, Mr Molebatsi said the government would continue to ensure that the government strived to make the country self-sufficient in food production by supporting ISPAAD programme whereby farmers would be given herbicides to control weeds in their ploughing fields.

Earlier in his welcome remarks, Kgosikgolo Lotlamoreeng II of Barolong, said they accepted the newly introduced system with open hands as it would assist them in addressing stock theft that was rife in their area.

He urged farmers to take care of their cattle in order to improve beef production in the country by meeting the rigorous international beef market standards and continue to remain competitive in the beef industry as compared to other countries.

Kgosikgolo Lotlamoreng II also said they hoped the double ear tag system would not give the nation sleepless nights like the bolus since thieves were able to remove it from cattle by giving them cooking oil, washing powder or paraffin.

Furthermore, he expressed concern that residents were robbed of their hard earned properties and called on them to work hard in order to put food on their tables rather than stealing from others. ENDS