The government has extended the dispensation allowing licensed abattoirs to export live slaughter cattle, meat, and meat by-products until the end of April 2025.
This four-month extension, which began on January 1, 2025, restricts Botswana-registered livestock agents, individual farmers, feedlots, and companies to a single consignment per entity per month.
In recent years, the export of live cattle, primarily to South Africa, has been linked to the Botswana Meat Commission (BMC) failing to meet its annual export quotas for markets such as Norway. Between 2021 and 2022, the BMC struggled to fully utilise its annual quota of 1,538 tons of beef allocated under the NorwayโSACU European Free Trade Association (EFTA) agreement, with Namibia stepping in to supplement the deficit.
The then-Minister of Agriculture, Fidelis Molao, attributed the BMC’s challenges to reduced cattle supplies. He noted that most cattle were sold for live export, reducing throughput to the BMC. In 2021, the BMC slaughtered only 19,671 cattle, a figure that rose to 36,125 in 2022. In contrast, 167,072 cattle were exported live from Botswana in 2021, increasing to 176,476 in 2022.
Speaking to this publication, BMC Chief Operations Officer (COO) Brian Dioka explained that the Ministry of Lands and Agriculture had consulted the Commission comprehensively about the latest extension and outlined the reasons for it. Dioka noted that this consultation is provided for under Section 2021 of the BMC Act, which also grants the Minister authority to permit live cattle and meat product exports by entities other than the BMC.
Initially, the export of live cattle negatively impacted the BMC, but the Commission introduced competitive pricing to remain viable. โIn the first year of live cattle exports, we struggled to compete, but by 2022, we realised there was no escape from this reality,โ Dioka said.
The live cattle export dispensation, which began in 2019, significantly reduced the number of cattle slaughtered at BMC facilities. For instance, the Commission slaughtered 79,000 cattle in 2019, but the number fell to 30,330 in 2020 and further plummeted to 19,671 in 2021โthe lowest figure in its history, even during outbreaks of Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD). โFarmers sold most of their cattle for live export, leaving BMC with a drastically reduced throughput,โ Dioka said.
However, throughput has gradually increased since then, with 36,157 cattle slaughtered in 2022 and 66,187 in 2023. By November 2024, BMC had already slaughtered 55,778 cattle.
Dioka credited the increase to competitive pricing for both EU and non-EU cattle, which incentivised farmers to supply the BMC. However, he acknowledged that challenges remain, particularly in terms of turnaround time. โFarmers exporting live cattle are paid within 48 hours, while BMC payments take up to two weeks to process,โ he said.
He also pointed out that live exports offer farmers the convenience of avoiding feedlot requirements, as cattle sent to the BMC must be fattened for a month before slaughter. Despite these challenges, Dioka expressed optimism about the future. โWe are not yet competitive in terms of time and turnaround, but we should be able to recover,โ he said.
While the BMC has the right to participate in live cattle exports, Dioka believes this would be counterproductive to its mandate. โOur focus should remain on optimising our plant and adding value to the product,โ he said.
Since 2010, the highest number of cattle slaughtered by the BMC in a year was 179,009. However, this figure dropped to 91,918 the following year and remained above 100,000 annually until falling below that mark in 2019.
Statistics Botswana reports that the value of live cattle exports was P647.6 million in 2023 and P405 million for the first three quarters of 2024. In comparison, the value reached P1.2 billion in 2022 and P876 million in 2021.
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