Angola floods affect Meatco operations

LIVESTOCK farmers and abattoirs in the Northern regions of the country have suffered extensively as a result of this year’s floods.
The heavy rains covered grazing areas and flooded stock pens, and livestock drowned or died of starvation and cold.

The lack of food in the area made many of the livestock more susceptible to internal parasites and diseases such as foot rot and Lumpy Skin Disease (LSD).The Government’s provision of a vaccine for LSD was an appreciated preventative measure, but arrived when many cattle were already infected. 6 833 cases of LSD were reported in the first four months of the year, compared to 219 for the whole of 2008.The disease causes a variety of symptoms in cattle, including lesions on the body, discharge from the mouth and nose, weight loss, sterility in bulls, miscarriages in cows and occasionally death.This spate of illness and parasitic infection has led to prolonged quarantine periods, often resulting in farmers being forced to sell their livestock to abattoirs at below optimum weight and at a lower price.Many farmers have found a solution to this problem.A bilateral grazing agreement between Angola and Namibia allows farmers from both countries to move their livestock up to 30 km out their own territory. Once inside Angola, farmers have the opportunity to sell their livestock to Angolan abattoirs at more competitive prices.Namibia’s largest meat producer, the Meat Corporation of Namibia (Meatco), noticed a 50% decline in the number of cattle processed at their abattoirs in Oshakati and Katima Mulilo over the last financial year.A representative of Meatco says that the decrease can be attributed to two factors: the floods earlier this year, and the selling of livestock to Angolan abattoirs.He acknowledged the fact that, with the right documentation, the sale of livestock across the border is legal. But he added his suspicions that some farmers were crossing the border at unofficial crossing points and selling their cattle illegally.ndapwa@namibian.com.nandapwa@namibian.com.na