31 Mar 2021

Parliament has been informed that the Ministry of Agricultural Development and Food Security has implemented Commodity Based Trade (CBT) for Ngamiland beef.

This was revealed by the Assistant Minister, Ms Beauty Manake responding to a question from Maun East MP, Mr Goretetse Kekgonegile.

Ms Manake said the ministry worked through the support of the European Union on implementing the CBT, adding that CBT facilities provided safe trade for beef originating from FMD endemic areas such as Ngamiland.

She said it also involved implementing measures such as herding and quarantining animals prior to slaughter and other sanitary measures to render beef safe for trade.

The assistant minister said CBT was already bearing fruits with several markets opening up for Ngamiland beef such as Vietnam and Hong Kong.

Ms Manake said cattle slaughtered for local consumption within Ngamiland were not subjected to quarantine.

“This is only a requirement for beef destined to the exports market and FMD free zones in Botswana,” she said.

She further said direct slaughter of cattle at authorised abattoirs in Ngamiland including BMC was permitted without cattle going through the quarantine. However, she noted that the meat would fetch the lowest prices of P19.50/kg.

Meat from Ngamiland is currently marketed in Ngamiland and Chobe, including the rest of Botswana and export markets such as the DRC, Mozambique, Kuwait, Gabon and Zimbabwe.

She said prices in Ngamiland and Chobe averaged P19.50/kg and the rest of the country was averaged at P23/kg and export market average P38/kg.

Ms Manake said in addition to reopening Maun BMC abattoir, the government continued to look for market opportunities for Ngamiland beef. Earlier on, Mr Kekgonegile had asked the Minister of Agricultural Development and Food Security to brief the house on plans in place to sell Ngamiland beef to better paying markets.

He also asked about the intended market places and prices of Ngamiland beef as well as about the rationale behind  quarantining cattle when the beef was consumed locally.

Moreover, he asked if it was amendable to Ngamiland selling their cattle directly to BMC, given that if it was consumed locally, the freezing process at the facility made meat safe for consumption.  ENDS