19 Dec 2017

Botswana Meat Commission (BMC) chief executive officer, Dr Akolang Tombale says the suspension to slaughter cattle at Maun abattoir has affected the commission’s financial performance.

Dr Tombale, who was speaking at the BMC annual dinner in Lobatse on Friday, said the Maun plant had been closed since September 2017 following the outbreak of Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) in Ngamiland. 

Dr Tombale said they hoped the plant would resume production in January 2018.

Furthermore, he said the Francistown plant also faced challenges that saw the abattoir slaughtering an average of 1 288 cattle every month. “It is far less than a week’s kill which is 1 900 cattle,” noted Dr Tombale.

However, he said despite all the challenges BMC has continued to explore market opportunities both locally and internationally in order to grow its brand. 

He said to realise the market opportunity internationally, BMC sent six farmers to Norway to benchmark on cattle production process. He said the trip also afforded farmers an opportunity to appreciate the needs of consumers, especially that Norway was one of the lucrative markets for BMC. He added that they also learnt best farming practices from their Norwegian counterparts. 

Furthermore, Dr Tombale also noted that BMC introduced an incentive based scheme for EU bound cattle, adding that it has the highest producer-prices in the region. 

He urged farmers to take advantage of the prices and increase supply for 2018. 

Dr Tombale emphasised that they re-affirmed their commitment to being the best buyer in the market, and that they promised their producer payment turnaround time in 2018. 

For his part, the vice chairperson of the Southern Beef Farmers Association, Mr Tiroyaone Mmereki said they acknowledged the challenges at BMC, but, however, appealed to the commission to improve their turnaround time on payments.  

He said farmers have complained about the payment process, and also appealed for price increases.

Mr Mmereki also encouraged farmers to sell to BMC, saying it was better to wait for a better payment from the commission than getting a little out of other buyers available. 

He said their association has planned to hold a field day where all farmers could network and get information on BMC processes and prices. ENDS