02 Feb 2026

The Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) outbreak in South Africa and the suspected cases in Botswana is a wake-up call for farmers to harness the transformative power of collaboration in order to strengthen their operations.

The remarks were made by Botswana National Beef Producers Union (BNBPU) chairperson, Mr Mpaphi Phumaphi during a Saturday meeting attended by the community and members of farmers’ associations in Ghanzi.
Mr Phumaphi said it was worth noting that it had been a common practice for some farmers’ associations to work in isolation and that had contributed to some inefficiency in the agricultural sector.

He, therefore, called for farmers’ associations to collaborate and affiliate to BNBPU in order to bring seasoned wisdom and experiences that could infuse innovation for sustainable growth of the industry.

Mr Phumaphi noted that through their successful collaborations, farmers could contribute successfully to the newly established Botswana Meat Industry Regulatory Authority (MIRA) Act, which was designed to regulate, licence and oversee the livestock and meat industry.

He said through BNBPU national council, they had proposed for the liberalisation of the Botswana Meat Commission (BMC), saying breaking its monopoly would foster a more competitive sector where farmers would be spoilt for choice on where to sell their livestock.

He further emphasised that the liberalisation of the BMC would allow for more local abattoirs to be established across the country to allow continuity in trading, more especially in unaffected zones during the times of outbreaks.

Moreover, he said the liberalisation of BMC would afford BNBPU the opportunity to strategise and reinvent the meat industry to make it appealing to consumers as well as control the pricing of their products in the market.

On other issues, he informed farmers that through the BNBPU council, members have set up a disease control fund to assist government with maintenance of disease control fences across zones as well as the purchasing of buffers and other necessities in the wake of financial challenges.

A member of the executive committee, Mr Masego Phuduhudu informed farmers that as part of its continued efforts to rebrand the meat sector, BNBPU national council had made a recommendation for a comprehensive transformative strategy to be put in place.

He said the strategy would be driven by the need to adopt sustainable farming practices and to implement some technological advancement that would enhance supply chain transparency and foster industry-wide collaboration.

Mr Phuduhudu added that these transformative strategies also called for synergy collaborations with government for proper policies governing the industry to ensure increased production and meeting growing global demand.

BNBPU Secretary, Mr Alfred Pilane said following the FMD outbreak in South Africa last year, in their meeting with government, BNBPU national council recommended for the establishment of a committee to provide guidance on the control measures.

We suggested that the committee should comprise of experts and farmers’ community who were previously involved in FMD outbreak to beef up the dispatched team to the northern part of the country, he said.

He also said they proposed for the setting up of the disease control fund, which would be controlled by the union and be used for the resuscitation of the Dibete cordon fence and others across the country as their support in controlling the diseases across zones.

Other proposals included the establishment of district abattoirs, which he said could reduce inconveniences amongst the farming community during an outbreak.

For his part, Ghanzi Farmers Association chairperson, Mr Quinton Barnes applauded BNBPU for their engagements with farmers’ associations across the country on how to contain and control the spread of FMD at local level.

On other issues, Mr Barnes informed them that Ghanzi Farmers Association terminated its affiliation to BNBPU due to some conflicted operations but he acknowledged that, with the new management and thorough consideration they would renew their affiliation.

He called for organisational transformation strategy at BMC that would drive long term growth by enhancing operational efficiency, and improve customer satisfaction.

Furthermore, he proposed for autonomy of MIRA to foster increased productivity and efficiency in the meat industry.
In his remarks, Ghanzi district Council Chairperson, Mr Thabiso Kebadile, implored farmers to work in sync noting that isolation would defeat the efforts to protect the meat industry.

He informed farmers about the government initiative to liberalise the beef sector through the establishment of MIRA.

He therefore, challenged farmers to generate progressive ideas that could reshape the industry and help restore the economy to its former glory. ENDS