Botswana to host livestock regional conference

The Foot and Mouth Disease ( FMD) outbreak incidences continue to threaten the livelihoods of farmers and cause immense emotional pain as well as negatively impact the economy of the country. This was said by President Mokgweetsi Masisi this week during the State of the Nation Address. He pointed out that recently the North- East district experienced an outbreak of the Disease in Zone 6b. He said to relieve the burden of loss on affected communities, Government decided to depopulate, restock and compensate affected farmers. Masisi revealed that with a view to strengthening animal diseases management in the region, Botswana will host a regional conference on livestock diseases in February next year. The Conference will deliberate on livestock diseases and vaccine production with a view to come up with a coordinated sub- regional response strategy. “I profoundly thank Benson Samson of Butale Village for alerting Government about the Foot and Mouth outbreak. Furthermore, I want to extend my sincere gratitude to all farmers for their cooperation in containing the disease. “In the same vein, I commend public officers who facilitated the containment of the Foot and Mouth outbreak,” Masisi said, adding that another challenge is the outbreak of cattle lung disease in the northern part of Namibia, which borders Ngamiland. He told the nation that as part of strengthening response and control measures, Veterinary Authorities of the two countries continue to conduct fence maintenance, disease surveillance and joint patrols along the common border. The President encouraged all farmers to be vigilant as the country continues to experience outbreaks of disease variants such as, the Bovine Malignant Catarrhal Fever at Gasita Extension Area in the Southern District. He explained that the Botswana Vaccine Institute ( BVI) is expanding its plant capacity to enable product diversification through Research and Development. The

In the same vein, I commend public officers who facilitated the containment of the Foot and Mouth outbreak.

facility will be more than double BVI capacity to blend vaccines from the current 20 million doses to over 50 million. According to Masisi, this will enable BVI to diversify its product offering and deepen continental production on animal health products. He indicated that through its new organisational structure, the Institute will undertake targeted research and development towards new products to supply the SADC region, East and West Africa and other targeted markets by 2025, further cementing a Knowledge- based economy.

President Masisi said the establishment of the Meat Industry Regulatory Authority ( MIRA) will be tabled at the next sitting of Parliament. The Meat Industry Regulatory Authority will, amongst others, enhance competition in the meat sector through licensing of abattoirs, managing animal traceability, and promoting the marketing of livestock and by- products.

“Our initiatives to donate bucks, rams and bulls to Batswana are in progress. To date, one hundred and fifty- five ( 155) farmers across the country have benefited from this initiative. These numbers will grow as the initiative continues to gain momentum”, Masisi told the nation.