Cash injection to revive ailing beef and ostrich industries

Botswana has unveiled a Pula 98 million (US $17.5 million) loan facility to overhaul the country's ailing beef sector and improve the increasingly poor quality of stock supplied for slaughter. The announcement was welcomed by the Botswana Meat Commission (BMC), the parastatal responsible for supplying European Union (EU) export quotas, which it has failed to meet for a number of years. BMC resources manager Nicholas Mosienyane said this week the commission was operating at 50 percent capacity due to a poor supply of slaughter stock, and pointed to the noncommercial mode of cattle production as largely responsible. Beef sector loans are being made available by the Citizen Entreprenual Development Agency (CEDA), a parastatal that provides financial and technical support to existing business ventures. A significant portion of the loans will be directed towards cattle breeding, according to CEDA, and also support a 'turn-around strategy' that is expected to place greater emphasis on commercial cattle production. CEDA is already funding 204 agricultural projects throughout the country, all aimed at reviving productivity in the declining beef industry. The feasibility and sustainability of proposed projects will be evaluated prior to implementation, and farmers identified for participation in the CEDA cattle-farming programme will receive training before funds are disbursed. Loan repayments will begin after 24 months, to give the farmers sufficient time to establish themselves in the cattle-rearing industry. The Botswana Ostrich Commission (BOC) announced this week that plans to shut down the country's sole ostrich abbatoir have been shelved. Closure was averted as a result of "progressive discussions with government, with a view to finding a lasting solution to problems affecting the development of the ostrich industry in the country", the BOC said. Ostrich meat and products are exported to the EU by the BOC, but it too has been unable to meet the annual quota requirements due to the inadequate supply of live birds. Closing the abattoir would have left 47 ostrich farmers without an alternative market. Apart from diamonds exports, the EU beef and ostrich meat quotas are seen as major sources of foreign currency for Botswana.