Future of Namibia’s meat body questioned

Namibia’s Livestock Producers’ Organisation (LPO), which is affiliated to the Namibia Agricultural Union, has expressed serious concern about the management of Meatco, that country’s primary meat processing, marketing and beef exporting entity.

Thinus Pretorius, LPO chairperson, told Farmer’s Weekly: “We’re extremely worried about the sustainability of recent Meatco prices, as well as the pricing mechanism used by the company.

“Indications are that Meatco’s beef cattle producer prices of R63/kg for beef cattle of all grades are between R7/kg and R14/kg too high, resulting in an alarming loss for the company. It doesn’t make sense to pay the same price for a top-quality, A-grade animal as for a poor-quality, C-grade animal. The sustainability of the cattle export value chain is crucial for stability in the industry.”

The LPO met recently with the Meatco management team to seek clarity on the LPO’s concerns and the company’s plans for the future.

One of the matters raised by the organisation was the fact that the Meatco pricing mechanism was not transparent, given the fact that four different prices were currently being paid to different categories of producers, namely small-scale farmers, commercial farmers, feedlots, and contract beef cattle producers. “We consider the pricing and the pricing mechanism as poor business decisions, and that has been underpinned by the fact that Meatco reported a loss of R110 million in 2021. It seems very likely that the company’s loss could go as high as R155 million in 2022.

“We’re left with the question of whether Meatco is still a going concern,” Pretorius said.

He added that the way in which Meatco was operating removed competition from the beef cattle production market and distorted the entire beef cattle value chain.

Pretorius said a follow-up meeting with Meatco would be arranged as soon as possible.