WINDHOEK – The Meatco Foundation will launch the Kavango Meatco Owned Cattle (MOC) initiative in November 2014.
This initiative will be done in partnership with the Kavango Farmers’ Union, the Meat Board mentorship programme, farmers in the regions of Kavango, the Meatco Procurement Department, the Directorate of Veterinary Services (DVS) and the Directorate of Extension Services (DEES). “In April 2014 Meatco launched the MOC initiative which forms part of the company’s backward integration strategy. Since then it has only been available to farmers South of the Veterinary Cordon Fence (SVCF). Following a proposal by the Meatco Foundation to its partners, it was decided to extend the project North of the Veterinary Cordon Fence (NCA??????? DOES THIS NOT STAND FOR NORTHERN COMMUNAL AREA?). Although it will still be known as MOC, there will be a few key differences processes in the sense that farmers in the NCA will have to commit their existing cattle to the project instead of buying in cattle from other farms,” says Neu-nique Williams, communication officer at Meatco
Since April this year, Meatco’s procurement team, together with the Meatco Foundation, has been hosting meetings with communal famers in the NCAs. The purpose of this initiative is to serve as a pilot project in which the MOC concept is tried and tested for the next 15 months, and can be redesigned if necessary to adapt to the NCAs. Based on the findings, the plan is to scale up the project to the entire NCAs.
For this initiative, the Meatco Foundation and procurement team searched for suitable farmers to participate. Selection for farmers include:
- farm ownership;
- availability of enough tagged cattle;
- the quality of infrastructure on the farm (eg. enough crush pens and water points).
According to Patrick Liebenberg, Meatco’s Procurement Manager in Oshakati, 28 farmers were chosen for this project, securing 750 cattle for Meatco’s Oshakati abattoir over a period of 15 months. Farmers choose how many of their own cattle they want to secure for this project. The Meatco Foundation pays the farmer N$3 500 per head of cattle, of which the farmers’ union will keep N$600 in a joint account to buy licks, nutritional supplements and medicine in bulk for the cattle. The rest of the funds are used by the farmer as they see fit.
Through this action Meatco intends to empower the farmers’ union as well as participating farmers. All cattle for this project are registered on the NamLITS system. Meatco’s procurement officers, together with the Meat Board mentorship programme, will visit participating farms once every two to three months to monitor the quality, progress, growth, weight and health of the animals. As well as to provide education to farmers on how to further improve their activities to achieve the desired quality that will get them the most returns on their cattle.
When the cattle are ready for slaughter and delivered to the Oshakati abattoir, Meatco will judge the animals according to their age, weight, hide, fat-grade and conformation. The amount the producer will receive will be determined by the value he added to each animal within the 15 months. Meatco will then buy the animal at the relevant weekly price and subtract the initial loan amount made available by the Foundation.If an animal is worth N$7 500, for example, Meatco will subtract the N$3 500 given to the farmer at the beginning of the project. The remaining N$4 000 will go directly to the farmer. In other words the farmer receives 100% profit on the cattle by adding value to it.
Liebenberg says they want this project to grow, and if this test-run is a success, to get donors involved in the next phase. The regions of Kavango MOC roll out is set to start in November.