The Botswana Vaccine Institute (BVI) may encounter a significant setback in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) market as South Africa moves forward with plans to establish its own foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) vaccine facility. Reports indicate that South Africa claims BVI is struggling to meet the high demand for vaccines in the region.
Sources reveal that this development follows discussions between South Africa’s Portfolio Committee on Agriculture and the Agricultural Research Council (ARC), which highlighted advancements in constructing the FMD vaccine facility and the ARC’s financial performance.
Currently, South Africa relies on imports of FMD vaccines from Botswana after losing its domestic production capacity in 2005 due to the deterioration of its facility at the ARC. The vaccines produced by Botswana’s manufacturing plant have been crucial in controlling outbreaks of the highly contagious disease across the SADC region. However, BVI has struggled to meet the high demand, resulting in a vaccine shortage that has left millions of livestock across Southern Africa vulnerable to FMD outbreaks, according to South Africa’s Portfolio Committee on Agriculture.
In response to this vulnerability, the ARC has proposed the construction of a new state-of-the-art FMD vaccine facility. The plan, initially approved in 2010, has received substantial funding from the South African National Treasury. An initial budget of R214 million was allocated in the 2011/2012 financial year, and the project was revived in 2019 with an additional R400 million injection. The projected total cost of the facility is R1.2 billion, with approximately R450 million remaining from previous allocations needed to complete the project.
Once operational, the South African facility will be capable of producing FMD vaccines at a commercial scale, potentially eliminating the need for imports from Botswana. This shift poses a serious challenge for BVI, which has relied on South Africa as a key market. Should the South African facility meet production expectations, Botswana’s market share in the SADC region could shrink drastically.
The ARC informed the committee that it is ready to proceed with construction, with all plans in place. However, budget constraints remain a challenge. The committee was told that the ARC has submitted numerous applications for additional funding from the National Treasury without receiving a favorable response. The ARC has appealed to the committee for assistance regarding this matter.
In response, the committee commended the ARC for its comprehensive briefing on the vaccine facility’s construction and indicated its willingness to assist through the Department of Agriculture.
