07 Apr 2016

Botswana Meat Commission (BMC) has suspended the Direct Cattle Purchase Scheme (DCP) to allow the organisation to improve its operational costs and structures, the Minister of Agriculture, Mr Patrick Ralotsia said in Parliament on Wednesday.

Responding to Kgalagadi North MP, Mr Itumeleng Moipisi’s Parliamentary question, Mr Ralotsia added that, “the cost of buying the said cattle is very much higher than the value of the cattle and the scheme proved to be very expensive and unsustainable for BMC.” 

Whereas he admitted that the arrangement could be affecting cattle farmers in the country,he pointed out that the commission’s field buying prices were published for every farmer to use as a guide when selling their cattle to buyers other than BMC. 

“It is noteworthy that cattle buyers, such as cattle speculators, cooperatives and others, may offer competitive prices that in some instances may negatively affect farmers,’’he said. 

The minister said such a practice was what pertained in a liberalised market, adding that farmers were therefore encouraged to use BMC published prices as a guide to get best prices at selling points. 

Mr Moipisi had wanted to know if the minister was aware that BMC was no longer buying cattle from farmers through direct purchase, and what necessitated the action and if the arrangement was not negatively affecting cattle farmers in the country. Ends