By Deon Schlechter

WINDHOEK – The Meatco Foundation Board of Trustees has identified various projects for the 2014/15 financial year in its ongoing efforts to implement a coordinated programme of support to the livestock production sector in the rural areas of the country.

In the Foundation’s latest project, entitled “Sustainable Cattle Production in Namibia”, Meatco has joined forces with donors Solidaridad (a networking organisation) and Danish Coop FDB. The project seeks to enable 2 400 smallholder communal faarmers to manage their livestock sustainably, while making them commercially viable. Some farmers face difficulties in gaining access to markets because the herds are in poor condition, under-commercialised and used as status symbols, as financial insurance and as a source of food Through the project, the Foundation has the opportunity to improve cattle genetics, their overall condition and their reproductive health.

At the same time, communal pasture can be repaired, sustained and reclaimed through movable corrals, herding techniques and selective grazing. The betterment of cattle genetics will also lead to improve volumes and quality of beef, generating higher prices for the farmer. The Foundation anticipated that this will lead to an improved livelihood for NCA farmers, besides repairing some of the land degradation. The project intends to reach out to some 800 Northern Communal Areas (NCAs) farmers each year, encouraging them to produce four or five extra head cattle for slaughter. The total number of additional cattle produced in this way will amount to about 4, 000 a year, which comes to some N$12 million in cattle sales. Three years down the line, the total benefit will mean about N$36 million in additional income for the NCAs.

The Foundation expects the increased income to allow farmers to reduce their food insecurity and address school-related and other expenses. With this programme, Meatco wants to contribute to reducing poverty in the country and improve the management of rangeland. The three main objectives of the programme are:

To enable rural communities to access improved livestock services, increase incomes and build pliability in a changing environment;
Improve access to bulls to enhance genetic characteristics;
To address the first objective through the Ekwatho Financing Scheme. The planned actions are aimed at replicating the scheme in the NCAs to strengthen livestock production services and increase income;
And to enable rural communities to manage profitable and production systems, as well as ensure enabling institutional and policy environments exist to support livestock production and rangeland management.