Set aside sheep marketing scheme
Value chain study complete
Study has yielded promising results and highlights possibility of several potential export markets.
The Meat Board of Namibia has been instructed to send a formal request to relevant authorities to set aside the Small Stock Marketing Scheme (SSMS).
This follows a meeting held at the industrialisation and trade ministry, where a delegation from the Livestock Producers’ Organisation (LPO), together with Hartlief, made a presentation on the recently completed sheep value chain study.
The Meat Board also attended the meeting.
The study was conducted at the request of sheep producers who pointed out the risks of having one export market only.
According to the Namibia Agricultural Union (NAU), the ministry’s team was informed that the study yielded promising results and that there is a possibility of several potential export markets.
“However, the message was also clearly conveyed by both the LPO and Hartlief that long-term policy certainty, among other things, is essential to bring about adequate recovery and growth in the sheep sector.”
The NAU says that the SSMS, implemented in 2004 with the aim of stimulating local value adding, was a dismal failure.
“Production was forced to its knees and sheep export abattoirs' doors closed. This scheme was put on ice in 2019, and production has meanwhile started picking up again. It is however necessary to have this scheme suspended on a permanent basis,” according to the NAU.
“The instruction at the meeting from the ministry was that the Meat Board, as a representative of the industry, should send a formal request to the relevant authorities to set aside the scheme.”
This follows a meeting held at the industrialisation and trade ministry, where a delegation from the Livestock Producers’ Organisation (LPO), together with Hartlief, made a presentation on the recently completed sheep value chain study.
The Meat Board also attended the meeting.
The study was conducted at the request of sheep producers who pointed out the risks of having one export market only.
According to the Namibia Agricultural Union (NAU), the ministry’s team was informed that the study yielded promising results and that there is a possibility of several potential export markets.
“However, the message was also clearly conveyed by both the LPO and Hartlief that long-term policy certainty, among other things, is essential to bring about adequate recovery and growth in the sheep sector.”
The NAU says that the SSMS, implemented in 2004 with the aim of stimulating local value adding, was a dismal failure.
“Production was forced to its knees and sheep export abattoirs' doors closed. This scheme was put on ice in 2019, and production has meanwhile started picking up again. It is however necessary to have this scheme suspended on a permanent basis,” according to the NAU.
“The instruction at the meeting from the ministry was that the Meat Board, as a representative of the industry, should send a formal request to the relevant authorities to set aside the scheme.”
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