17 Dec 2019

Farmers are key in the successful implementation of commodity based trade (CBT) in Ngamiland.

The remarks were made by Chairperson of Hainaveld Farmers Association, Mr Kebitsang Ledimo during a recent dialogue on CBT organised by Department of Veterinary Services in collaboration with UNDP.

He expressed concern about low turn up of farmers during the dialogue, despite being the key stakeholders in the implementation of the CBT.

The CBT concept, he said was the answer to the woes of the Ngamiland farming community as for a long time they had been struggling to secure lucrative markets for beef.

The implementation of the CBT concept is expected to help in processing of beef in the red zone region to accepted standards for local, Southern African region and international markets.

It would also help address lack of markets for the Ngamiland beef.

Mr Ledimo pointed a finger to veterinary officers for failing to invite farmers on time, saying the dialogue had attracted mostly public servants, who were familiar with the concept.

He said farmers lacked knowledge and information on how the concept would benefit them and what was expected from them.

“This meeting was very important and it is a disgrace to me as the key stakeholders are left out and yet they are the drivers of the concept because they are the custodians of livestock,” he stressed.

He urged the relevant authority to consider organising another dialogue where farmers’ representation would be satisfactory, adding that it was important for farmers to be appraised on CBT for its smooth implementation.

Dr Odireleng Thololwane from Veterinary Services apologised for communication breakdown with farmers and assured the gathering that they would consider organising another meeting which farmers would attend in large numbers.

He admitted that the farming community’s involvement was critical in the success of CBT.

Updating the gathering about the concept, Dr Thololwane explained that the aim of CBT of beef was to ensure sustainable improvement of market opportunities for ‘red zone’ farmers, diversify economic opportunities/reduce poverty and enable greater coexistence between livestock and wildlife.

He also shared some of the analysis, which identified gaps hindering CBT implementation and provided practical recommendations validated by stakeholders in Maun around July 2019.

Dr Thololwane mentioned challenges for good husbandry practices such as difficulty complying with risk mitigation measures and that unreliable sales disincentivized good husbandry practices.

In addition, he said without functional market, adoption of the CBT would be very slow.

Some of the recommendations he mentioned included providing farmer training and strengthening farmers associations as well as introducing skilled/professional herders as this could play a vital role in enabling farmer compliance.

It was also recommended that the concept be piloted at a few sites, before being scaled up.

Dr Thololwane said other challenges hindering CBT was that some farmers were reportedly reluctant to quarantine their livestock because of the distance travelled.

He revealed that currently, the Makalamabedi quarantine was the only one operating out of the four in the district, stating insufficient quarantine capacity to supply abattoirs and cost of rehabilitating the quarantine were impediments. 

Meanwhile, the veterinary department was advised to complete rehabilitation of Makalamabedi quarantine and consider options to overcome limitation of having a single quarantine.

The department was also called upon to identify markets that do not require quarantine and also create an enabling environment for establishment of small, private facilities (quarantine tied to abattoirs/feedlots) and conduct feasibility study of mobile quarantines. ENDS