13 Jun 2022

The government is in the process of establishing a Meat Industry Regulatory Authority to liberalise the beef industry and promote competitiveness of the sector.

Vice President, Mr Slumber Tsogwane said when officiating at the seventh Edition of Mookane Farmers Day at Rankgaphane cattle post in Mookane recently.

“This will allow participation of all key value chain players in running of the beef industry and develop the indexes. We have been waiting for a very long time for the liberalisation of the BMC or the beef industry, so it's on the way,” said Mr Tsogwane.

All key records, he said, showed government's commitment and unwavering support to the livestock industry.

Mr Tsogwane said government remained committed to continue developing the livestock value chain to unlock more opportunities in the sector.

For that reason, the Vice President urged livestock farmers to utilise the system platforms to improve the livestock production and livelihoods.

In his remarks, the Minister of Agriculture, Mr Fidelis Molao said government, through his ministry, continued to strive towards achieving food security for all and would focus on biosafety to reduce the country's food import bill, which currently stood at P7 billion per annum.

Introduction of an importation ban of various commodities, he said provided a positive opportunity to create and promote economic growth, economic diversification and local employment.

Mr Molao said his ministry would continue to support their farming endeavours to feed the nation.

The agricultural sector, he said, contributed 2.1 per cent to the country's Gross Domestic Products (GDP), of which 80 per cent was by the livestock sector.

However, despite these statistics, he said the country was experiencing a decline in cattle population, which currently stood at 2.1 million.

In an effort to respond to beef industry challenges and increase national herd, the Minister Molao said government had adopted a Beef Cluster Competitive Reinforcement Strategy to unlock the value chain linkages and promote market access.

The strategy, Mr Molao said, had also identified areas of improvement, which include ways of upgrading production, research technology transfer and promotion and marketing of beef.

He said the Ministry of Agriculture had also invested heavily in Botswana Animal Information Traceability System (BAITS), as a pre-requisite to penetrate international markets.

Therefore, he encouraged farmers to adhere to the BAITS requirements, by tagging their animals and keeping records up to date to be able to sell to other markets.

Since inception in October 2020, the minister said the export of live cattle initiative had contributed positively to livelihoods of local farmers. He said more than 284 000 cattle were exported, of which 277 455 were exported to South Africa and 6 818 to Namibia.

He said the livestock export, was expected to reduce grazing pressure on rangelands and had resulted in the market offering competitive beef prices, hence better returns. Therefore, he encouraged local farmers to make use of the available dispensation.

The event, held under theme: Rangeland Management and Effective Livestock Production, was organised by Mookane Farmers Association. ENDS