The Namibian Meat Board will meet with stakeholders in Windhoek today (Wednesday) to discuss alternative meat export markets as negotiations with South Africa suffered another setback last week, according to media reports.
Namibia’s New Era newspaper reported yesterday that the South African Feedlot Association had halted the process by demanding more time to finalise the standard operating procedures (SOPs) for Namibian livestock imports, including weaners and sheep.
Analysts warned over the weekend that the situation would leave Namibia with an excessive amount of weaners and no market on the eve of the annual weaner season that starts in August when the majority of Namibia’s some 160 000 weaners usually leave the country for feedlots in South Africa.
Except for goats, which all go to the direct slaughter market in Kwazulu-Natal, some 85 percent of all Namibian cattle and sheep exports do not end up as direct slaughter animals but go via the SA Abattoir Association