09 May 2023

Maun Botswana Meat Commission management has been urged to come up with robust marketing strategies to attract more farmers to sell cattle to the abattoir.

The call was made by members of the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Agriculture, Land and Housing during a visit to the abattoir after learning about the general decline in cattle supply.  

Even though they appreciated some of the interventions in place such as an increase in buying prices and free transportation of animals from the quarantines to the abattoir, they urged the management to consider strategies that would restore the waning confidence in the abattoir.

One of the committee members, Mr Palelo Motaosane who is also Thamaga/Kumakwane MP said the abattoir to consider reinstating incentives such as awarding bonuses to farmers.

He said such incentives could also lure young farmers to come on board and improve the cattle industry.

He also urged management to engage farmers and encourage them to bring cattle for slaughtering, adding that pastoral farming was paramount to the economy of Ngamiland.

The committee chairperson, Mr Sam Brooks called on the abattoir management to also revise farmers’ payment turnaround saying it also contributed to the low supply of animals.

Mr Brooks said farmers were the main source of beef production hence they should get value for their hard work well on time, adding that BMC was established to promote beef and related products in the North West region.

“Farmers incurred costs to take care of cattle and it is unfair for them to wait long for their payment as they depended on cattle as their source of income,” he added. Management was also advised to re-look into the Cold Dress Mass (CDM) in cattle slaughtered and consider dropping it to 140kg as well as exploring more export markets.

However, he assured management of support on issues beyond their control

Earlier on, the plant manager, Mr Ishmael Ramorula informed the committee that the plant experienced a general decline in cattle supply since 2013 citing Foot and Mouth Disease outbreaks as some factors that led to the decline.

To keep the abattoir afloat, he said, the quarantine system was introduced in 2018 and in that period, they managed to slaughter 8 613 cattle and experienced a significant increase in the CDM prices over the years to date.

He appreciated that the plant was getting at least 70 per cent of cattle through government quarantines of Makalamabedi and Nokaneng while the rest of the supply was from private quarantines which were 18 in total and very few from the green zones of 3b and 4a.

Mr Ramorula also noted that for the year 2022, they slaughtered 9 120 cattle against the target of 15 000. He hoped that this year, performance would improve as they slaughter cattle from Zone 6b.
In terms of market position, he said most of the product was sold at greater Gaborone and 33 per cent was taken to the cannery plant in Lobatse while 17 per cent was exported.

The committee was also informed that the government had funded the Ministry of Agriculture to the tune of P6 million to improve the effluent treatment plant at the abattoir.

Mr Ramorula pointed out that the project kick-started with reverse osmosis to eliminate salts from the water before pumping to the plant from boreholes.

The project, he said would also allow for further separation of waste while water from the project would be used for cleaning trucks, kraals and gardening.

“This project is expected to reduce water usage in the plant as currently we used 250 -350 cubic metres per day,” he added. Ends