Maun — Stakeholders have been encouraged to ensure success of Commodity Based Trade (CBT) of beef in Ngamiland.

The call was made by the Minister of Agricultural Development and Food Security, Mr Fidelis Molao, when officially opening the CBT of beef in Ngamiland engagement held in Maun on July 30.

Once fully implemented, Minister Molao said CBT of beef in Ngamiland would help in processing of beef in the red zone region to accepted standards for local, Southern African region and international markets.

CBT strategy, he said was adopted by the Southern African Development Community (SADC) in 2012, which helps to minimise risks associated with commodities.

Mr Molao therefore said the CBT of beef in Ngamiland will help address lack of markets for the Ngamiland beef, resulting from continuous Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) outbreaks.

He noted that there has been an increase of FMD outbreaks in Southern Africa over the last 10 years, noting that the present FMD interventions of geographical management experienced challenges.

Nonetheless, Mr Molao said CBT of beef would help Ngamiland since it focused on how the meat is produced rather than on the geographic origin of the animals.

"Under the right conditions, liberated from geographically-based disease management standards, a greater proportion of our nation's beef can find its way into lucrative markets," he said.

He noted that the CBT of beef will help acquire alternative markets from the European markets of livestock products.

He therefore said the Department of Veterinary Services, with its stakeholders, was leading the implementation CBT of beef in Ngamiland, noting that his ministry was committed to help improve the agricultural sector. Mr Molao further urged stakeholders to identify the gaps in implementation of CBT of beef in Ngamiland and apply their expertise to close the gaps.

In her welcome remarks, Batawana regent, Kgosi Kealetile Moremi, said CBT was a new era of hope for Ngamiland.

Kgosi Moremi encouraged the stakeholders to work together to ensure success of CBT as well as the numerous strategies employed to ensure the safety of beef such as application quarantines.

The stakeholder workshop was meant to identify gaps in the implementation of CBT of beef in Ngamiland.

Source : BOPA