Rural Otjetjekua animal auction raises over half a million

AN animal auction held at Otjetjekua village in the Kunene region on Thursday generated N$583 200 for farmers who brought their cattle to be auctioned.

The auction was conducted by the Harambee Communal Auctioneers in partnership with the Otjetjekua Livestock Marketing Cooperative and with the support of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Land Reform and the Livestock and Livestock Products Board of Namibia (LLPBN).

The event saw 75 out of 91 head of cattle being sold.

The cattle sold included steers, oxen, bulls, cows and heifers.

Most of the buyers were from the Oshana, Omusati and Ohangwena regions. The highest price fetched was N$13 500.

Before the start of the auction, Johannes Utoni, the LLPBN’s regional manager for the northern-central regions, informed cattle sellers and buyers of the lumpy skin disease subsidy the board is implementing.

Utoni said farmers would be subsidised with 15% per animal.

He said for farmers to qualify, they have to buy the approved vaccine, keep the receipt, and brand their vaccinated cattle.

Utoni said the subsidy programme started on 1 September last year, and will run until 31 March next year.

Meanwhile, the treasurer of the Otjetjekua Small-Scale Farmers Cooperative, Kenomundu Utjavari, says one of the challenges farmers are faced with in hosting cattle auctions at Otjetjekua is that there are too few cattle buyers.

“It is not easy to get buyers,” she says.

Utjavari said they are also in desperate need of a modern auction facility with drinking water, toilets and shade, which the Otjetekua auction point does not feature.

There is also no holding kraal for the goats and sheep, and therefore they cannot put small stock on auction.
“As a cooperative, we do not have an office to operate from either,” Utjavari said.

The vice chairperson of the Otjetjekua Livestock Marketing Cooperative, Utuzemba Mbaroro, said the cooperative is urgently looking for funds to set up a modern auction facility at the village.

An animal auction was also set to be held at Amarika village in the Omusati region last Friday, but did not take place due to alleged disagreement among local organisers.

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