Meatco’s Northern Communal Area (NCA) subsidiary, Meatco NCA, continues to play a strategic role in strengthening livestock value chains and supporting communal farmers in the Zambezi region, in line with Namibia’s long-term development vision and national planning priorities.
Beyond its core mandate of livestock processing and market access, Meatco NCA’s work is closely aligned with Vision 2030, which calls for inclusive economic growth, rural development, and the transformation of the country’s agricultural sector.
These objectives are further reinforced under National Development Plan 6 (NDP6), which prioritises job creation, value-chain development, food security, and resilience to climate change.
In the Zambezi region, Meatco’s work goes far beyond processing livestock as the entity continues to uplift communities, create opportunities and ensure that communal farmers participate meaningfully in regional and global markets.
Through the Meatco foundation, the State-owned meat processor has invested over N$2.7 million in the region between 2022 and 2025, driving real change across the livestock sector.
Some of the tangible interventions by Meatco has been the creation of 62 permanent jobs at the Katima Mulilo abattoir, improved livestock marketing infrastructure and continuous farmer training as well as the 272,000 droughts‑relief meat packs that were delivered during the drought crisis.
“These interventions directly advance NDP6 objectives related to inclusive rural economies, improved productivity in agriculture, and enhanced participation of communal farmers in formal markets. By strengthening farmer organisations and marketing infrastructure, Meatco NCA contributes to reducing structural barriers that have historically limited communal farmers’ access to value chains,” said Meatco’s interim CEO Albertus Aochamub.
He added that true impact is visible on the ground as the 62 permanent jobs created the Katima Mulilo Abattoir have contributed positively to local economic activities in the region.
“Livestock marketing systems have been enhanced through targeted training and infrastructure support, improving efficiency and governance within farmer institutions,” Aochamub stated.
In addition, Meatco NCA has supported the financial sustainability of local livestock marketing entities, including the Zambezi Meat Corporation (ZAMCO), through commission-based income linked to slaughter throughput.
At full capacity, the Katima Mulilo abattoir can slaughter 1 320 cattle per month or 15 000 cattle per year and looks set to boost the availability of fresh beef in the region.
This has strengthened institutional capacity and enabled reinvestment into farmer support services, consistent with national objectives to build resilient, community-based economic institutions.
“During the severe drought conditions of 2024/2025, Meatco NCA also played a critical humanitarian role as part of national drought relief efforts. In the Zambezi region, more than 272,000 drought relief meat packs were delivered to affected households. This intervention complemented government food security programmes and aligned with NDP6 priorities on social protection, resilience, and safeguarding livelihoods during climate-related shocks,” he said.
By linking market access to community upliftment, the corporation supports Vision 2030’s aspiration of a prosperous, inclusive, and resilient Namibia.
Looking ahead to the 2026/27 financial year, Aochamub said they plan to deepen their developmental footprint in the region through farmer business schools, climate adaptation training, and agribusiness capacity-building programmes.
These planned interventions respond directly to NDP6’s focus on skills development, productivity enhancement, and climate resilience within the agricultural sector.
Meatco NCA’s performance, Aochamub underscored, should therefore be measured not only in volumes processed, but in lives improved, skills transferred, and communities strengthened.
World class
Meatco has world-class infrastructure that has verifiable certification for its food safety standards and constantly undergoes rigorous audits that benchmark its infrastructures or abattoirs against those of Europe partners.
The entity’s world-class processing facility is the Windhoek facility, which is EU, BRC, USA, China, FSSC 22000 and Halaal certified, and every point of production is regulated and subjected to various independent audits.
Meatco’s NCA abattoirs operate under the Commodity Based Trade (CBT) Protocol or the value chain approach, which focuses on the certifiable process by which products are produced and not based on their geographical origin, especially when assessing the risk of diseases.
This approach has opened opportunities for the export abattoirs in the NCA to export meat products that possess low to zero risk for the transmission of diseases.
Additionally, Meatco’s Okapuka Tannery on the outskirts of Windhoek is the first in Africa to be audited and ESG Certified by the Sustainable Leather Foundation (SLF).
– ohembapu@nepc.com.na
