- Farmers bear the brunt of exorbitant prices of cattle feed supplements
- Quality of beef cattle supplied to the BMC has significantly deteriorated
- Panic selling has also become a significant issue
The beef cattle farming community has been plunged into financial crisis as the El Nino drought takes hold, the Botswana National Beef Producers Union (BNBPU) said.
El Nino is a prolonged period of drought and drier conditions experienced across the Southern African region, which has driven below-average rainfall since late 2023.
In Botswana, an arid desert, this phenomenon has toughened farming conditions for many beef cattle farmers and affected livestock. It has led to a lack of water availability for livestock and well below-average vegetation conditions, which have been further exacerbated by the unprecedented veld and pasture fires that ravaged most parts of the country in the previous year.
Andrew Seeletso, the spokesperson of BNBPU, a wholly farmer-owned and governed entity that advocates for the interests of beef cattle farmers, asserts that this challenging drought period has plunged many farmers across the country into financial crisis.
Seeletso told the Business Weekly and Review that the insufficient and belated rains have led to a significant reduction in the availability and quality of grazing areas. This has resulted in vast areas with little to no grass, and in some regions, no rain at all. As Botswana’s cattle industry primarily relies on natural grazing, he said this has severely restricted the natural and free food supply for cattle, leading to undernourishment and poor health of cattle.
Cattle farmers have to bear the brunt of exorbitant prices of cattle feed supplements and water, while also experiencing lower income from selling cattle. The poor condition of the cattle, due to inadequate feed, has led to compromised market prices, while production costs remain the same.
“It is a challenging period for farmers across the country,” Seeletso lamented.
While the government has introduced drought subsidies to support farmers, which he says have been quite helpful and provided much-needed relief, Seeletso emphasised that there is a need for subsidies to be extended as the drought continues to pose severe challenges heading into the dry winter and summer months.
Botswana is an exporter of beef to the EU through the preferential trade agreement. It avails beef to local and international markets through the Botswana Meat Commission (BMC), which procures beef cattle for slaughter and processing from local farmers. However, Seeletso says the drought has had an impact on quality standards with the poor pastures resulting in undernourished cattle with compromised body conditions. Consequently, the quality of beef cattle supplied to the BMC has significantly deteriorated.
“Zero to poor pastures has resulted in less feed for animals and poor body condition. The quality of stock sold to BMC is severely compromised,” he said.
BMC as the primary market for most farmers has not provided direct assistance for farmers during this drought; however, he indicated that the parastatal has instead encouraged farmers to reduce their stock levels by selling cattle early to avoid losses from starvation.
Seeletso further added that many farmers have incurred market losses due to cattle deaths caused by the severe drought. Panic selling has also become a significant issue, with farmers offloading breeding stock at heavily discounted prices in anticipation of worsening conditions. According to him, this practice will make it difficult for beef farmers to rebuild viable herd numbers in the future, threatening long-term sustainability for beef farming in the country.
Researchers at the South African Development Community (SADC) Food Agriculture and Natural Resources (FANR) recorded over 9,000 drought-related cattle deaths in Zimbabwe between October 2023 and February 2024 with over 1.4 million cattle at high risk of drought conditions and death due to lack of pasture and water. However, BNBPU did not have available statistics.
“There are no established reporting mechanisms for animals dying in farming areas,” Seeletso said.
