January 15, 2020

US$69.2 million in cattle producer prices paid out by Meatco Namibia last year

Ronald Kubas, acting Meat Corporation of Namibia (Meatco) chairperson said the company contributed positively to Namibia's agricultural sector, which has been affected by the recent drought, reported The Namibian.

Kubas said the company slaughtered 115,000 cattle last year to assist drought-stricken farmers, close to 85% more cattle compared to the same period in 2018 while maintaining prices for the meat.

Meatco is currently looking to rebuild its herd, including the prospect of importing livestock from Botswana and obtaining cattle from northeast Namibia through the creation of a buffer zone. The latter strategy will be executed with the Ministry of Agriculture.

The company is also proposing additional intensive cattle rearing to recover its rangelands and working with cattle farmers to address throughput challenges via the introduction of intensive rearing mini feedlot systems.

Kubas added that the company is fortunate to be able to access the Namibia market without restrictions imposed, but throughput, raw materials, and raw materialsavailability are some of the company's biggest challenges.

The Namibian Agricultural Inputs and Household Food Security Situation report found that 88,219 livestock had died from the drought between October 2018 to September 2019, with an average of 7,350 deaths monthly.

-      The Namibian