04 Mar 2025

Okavango District Council  councillors have called for the standardisation of the Botswana Meat Commission (BMC) cattle prices.

The councillors said this during a full council meeting yesterday in support of a motion raised by councillor  Kebonyemodisa Mbwe of Gumare East-Tubu, which called on the Ministry of Lands and Agriculture to standardise  BMC cattle prices.

Mr Mbwe said BMC should standardise prices for all farmers in the country so that farmers in the Okavango District equally benefited from their cattle. He said there were interventions in place to help the beef from the Okavango to be marketable, regardless of the presence of Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) in the area therefore farmers should not be disadvantaged.

Supporting the motion, councillor for Nokaneng-Habu, Mr  Itjienda Tjinyeka said it was appropriate for BMC to standardise the pricing since  Okavango cattle was quarantined for at least three weeks prior slaughter to ensure it was FMD free.

Mr Tjinyeka said government should ensure the co-existence of tourism and farming in the Okavango District.

Etsha 13-Jao Flats councillor  Mr  Otano Juta said the Okavango district farmers faced hardships such as expensive animal feeds therefore deserved an increase in their cattle pricing to be equal to that of FMD free zones. Nominated councillor, Mr Palo Moriri, said standardisation would help farmers benefit equally and would motivate farmers to take farming seriously.

Mr Ope Chamo, the acting Okavango district agricultural coordinator, said the BMC pricing was influenced by the type of market, hence the FMD-free zone beef, which had market in Europe, was better priced compared to areas with FMD. ENDS