27 Feb 2018

Botswana Meat Commission plant manager in Maun, Mr Oabona Ramotshwara has dismissed reports by some farmers in Okavango that purchasing prices were imposed on them without consultation.

This followed a concern by farmers who complained that BMC practiced discriminatory policy when it came to buying cattle from farmers depending on their regions.

Farmers were not happy with the decision by the Maun abattoir to buy their light weight cattle at P8 per kg, noting that the abattoir did not engage them.

They threatened to stop selling cattle to BMC if the price was not improved.

However, Mr Ramotshwara explained in an interview that proper consultations with farmers association were conducted last year during a meeting organised by the district agricultural coordinator, but that they failed to reach an agreement as farmers were against the proposed price for live cattle.

He said farmers demanded P14 per kg but “we reached a deadlock and a resolution was made to request the Minister of Agricultural Development and Food Security to intervene in the matter,” he added.

He explained that the arrangement to buy live cattle came into place in an effort to address the issue of quarantine following the government decision to rehabilitate two cattle quarantines in Ngamiland District in an effort to facilitate commodity based trade (CBT) approach.

In addition, he revealed that the requirement was to slaughter cattle from the quarantine hence the decision to buy live cattle, adding that the Makalamabedi quarantine had been ready since last year but no cattle arrived.

Mr Ramotshwara said the P8 per kg price was more equivalent to the initial P19.50 per kg as the abattoir was responsible for transport expenses as compared to the initial arrangement where farmers paid transport for themselves.

However, to keep the abattoir running, the plant manager said they had decided to stick to the initial purchasing price of P19.50 while waiting for the minister’s intervention.

The plant manager noted that last year they did not reach their target because of the Foot and Mouth Disease outbreak which affected their operations. The abattoir only managed to slaughter over 18 000 cattle as compared to the set target of 29 000.

Mr Ramotshwara explained that this year they had set a target of 24 000 and noted that to date, they had slaughtered over 1 000 cattle. He said they had started buying cattle all over the district except zone 2d, adding that they were experiencing some challenges of supply of cattle due to movement restriction.

He said the market was still a challenge, adding that currently they supplied locally and sent some beef to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).  He believed that other markets would be secured when the Department of Veterinary Services eases movement restriction.

Meanwhile, early this year, the farmers committee from Okavango presented their concerns pertaining to farming to the Ngamiland District leadership.

One of the burning issues was BMC purchasing price of P8 per kg, and the committee reported that they had encouraged farmers to hold on to their cattle whilst they negotiated the price with relevant authorities.

The committee argued that BMC should take into consideration the fact that all farmers put efforts in their endeavour to breed cattle.

Other resolutions presented were as follows; farmers committee be given the powers to bargain with BMC on cattle prices on behalf of their fellow members. Farmers also called for uniformity of prices of cattle across the country. ENDS