The government and Namibia National Farmers Union (NNFU) are working on a livestock price equalisation fund to address cattle marketing challenges in the northern communal areas (NCAs).
NNFU chief executive Kuniberth Shamathe told The Namibian last week that the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Land Reform has asked the union to provide inputs on how the fund should be implemented.
Shamathe said the NNFU strongly supports the establishment of the fund.
“As a farmers’ union, we are also supporting the general idea of establishing fodder production, green schemes and feedlots,” Shamathe said.
Approved by the Cabinet in 2024, the NCA Price Equalisation Fund is aimed at addressing low cattle marketing and financial disparities currently affecting farmers in the NCAs.
It also seeks to compensate livestock producers north of the veterinary cordon fence for the disparities they face compared to their counterparts south of the fence.
The main rationale for creating the fund is that the animal disease status north of the veterinary cordon fence is not the fault of livestock producers in that part of the country, yet they bear the brunt of its negative impact.
The agriculture ministry this year issued a statement saying the formal marketing of cattle in the NCAs currently stands at 15% of the cattle population, which is very low.
According to the ministry, factors affecting the low market figures include, non-operational abattoirs in the NCAs, missing links in the meat value chains, inadequate logistics and processing infrastructure such as feedlots, feeder roads, tanneries and low cattle price due to lack of access to lucrative markets such as the European Union, Norway, China and the United States.
Meanwhile, former NNFU president and current Oshana Farmers Union chairperson Jason Emvula says livestock auctions in the NCAs are not well-organised due to a lack of market.
He says if the Eloolo Meatco abattoir can be opened, it would help farmers in the four O’ regions to sell their cattle.
“Farmers in the NCAs need much support from the government, which is currently not there. We do not have markets for the farmers. Policies are policies but, people do not eat policies,” Emvula says.
