MeatCo reports 86% meat production increment

NAMIBIA – The Namibian Meat Corporation, MeatCo has recorded a 86% increase by slaughtering 16,200 cattle in the first quarter of 2023 bouncing back from a N$205 million net loss for the 2022 financial year.

According to the state-owned entity, the increase is expected to turn its operations into fortunes especially since it has received an investment of N$200 million to boost operations.

This follows the 8 November 2021 directive in which the government of Botswana announced it would allow the export of live animals for slaughter from 1 January 2022 to 31 December 2023 in which the Namibian Cabinet also approved Meatco to import 20 000 head of cattle.

“We will engage the state to escalate the temporary arrangement to be a permanent arrangement so that cattle from Botswana can augment the shortage of slaughter-ready cattle in Namibia,” MeatCo said.

The company added that it plans to procure another 2 000 head of cattle from Botswana during the 2023 financial year and slaughter 60,000 cattle annually for the export market to break even.

Meatco also highlighted that it is now working closely with the farmers’ associations as agents for organizing cattle marketing events at a commission.

“We are seeking to assemble buying points at strategic locations on the main routes in the farming areas to capture feedlot and slaughter-ready cattle destined for commercial auctions,” the entity said.

According to the 2022 financial year report, Meatco allocated 62% of the volume to export markets, which generated 80% of total beef and bone-in product revenue.

Meatco exported its first beef consignments to emerging markets China in 2019, and the United States in 2020.

Meatco also developed the strategy for the northern communal area (NCA) and successfully mainstreamed the NCA into the Namibian economy by operating the Katima Mulilo abattoir and marketing certified beef, in line with the Commodity-Based Trade Protocol from the Katima Mulilo abattoir.

“To date, beef from the NCA through our Katima Mulilo abattoir is finding its space in the Ghanaian market, Angola, and the Democratic Republic of Congo as exported through the Commodity-Based Trade Protocol,” Meatco said.

“Through Cabinet directives, official handover and budgetary support from the shareholder, we are prepared to operate Rundu and Oshakati abattoirs to facilitate market access for NCA farmers in potential markets in Africa, the Middle East, and south-east Asia.”

MeatCo noted that Namibia’s livestock farming sector worth N$6,3 billion is in dire need of growth, and growth starts at the farm level, but will only happen when it is profitable to producers.

For the 2023 financial year, Meatco has a target to slaughter 60 000 heads of cattle procured from the south of the redline, and 10 000 from producers north of the redline.

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