How the War Was Won
Date: 20 August 2004
Source:Mmegi/The Reporter (Gaborone)
Author: Ephraim Keoreng
The Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) outbreaks of 2002 and 2003 nearly crippled the beef industry in Botswana. General manager of Botswana Meat Commission's (BMC) Francistown abattoir, Thabani Machacha, says the outbreak was cruel to both farmers and the people of Botswana in general.
Machacha, who is also a farmer, speaks in a low voice when reflecting on the high number of cattle that had to be killed as a preventive measure against the possible spread of the disease.
"Pastoral farmers in the North East district, especially those in the disease infected areas of Matsiloje and Matopi, lost a large number of cattle," he says.
As per the regulations of the Office International des Epizooties (OIE), the world body that overlooks animal health and international trade, veterinary officers froze the movement of cattle within Botswana, as well as across borders, soon after the disease's detection.
The livestock movement ban, which was aimed at controlling the disease in the North-East District, led to a temporary lay-off of staff at the Francistown abattoir, which is in the vicinity of the affected areas. The abattoir itself was shut down for five and a half months.
"Family members of our staff who went on unpaid leave for this period were badly affected," says Machacha. "For five and a half months, they had to live with this reality of having to see their breadwinners, staying home with nothing to do instead of coming to work."
The Francistown BMC abattoir management took the decision to loan the workers funds equivalent to their monthly wages and salaries to keep them going.
Despite the fact that business at BMC was dwindling, water and electricity bills and other related costs had to be paid. Machacha says the Francistown abattoir lost money in payments for the maintenance of machinery that had to be undertaken regularly, regardless of whether it was being used or not.
BMC meat stocks bound for overseas markets had to be returned to Botswana from the Cape Town port. This was in accordance with the international law in emergency cases of animal disease outbreaks. The return of stock, spelt more financial doom for BMC.
"We incurred costs from transport, handling and storage charges of these stocks at storage points in South Africa, European ports and back to the country. In 2002 alone, BMC made a net deficit of about P20.1 million while in 2003 it rose to P63 million," he says.
Left with no choice, BMC had to look elsewhere for markets. It was thus forced to sell its stock to the small local market in Botswana and non-European countries like South Africa. But the European Union (EU) market is the most lucrative for Botswana beef because of its high prices.
"The meat products could not be left to accumulate in our storage equipment. They had to go. That is why we ended up selling at a low price," Machacha says.
The Botswana cattle were slaughtered and sold to non-European Union markets, chiefly South Africa. This was after negotiations and agreements were made that the ban should not be applied on markets that were ready to buy Botswana beef.
"We killed about 16 000 cattle for the non-EU market to get rid of cattle in our feeding lots," Machacha says.
The golden ray of hope shone on the beef industry in August 2003, when the EU markets re-admitted Botswana beef. Workers were recalled to duty.
Is the nightmare over?
Dr Moetapele Letshwenyo, deputy director (disease control) in the Department of Animal Health and Production, believes so. He says the disease has been completely eradicated.
"Through the concerted efforts of our diligent and able staff, other government agencies and, most importantly, farmers and the general public who cooperated with us in those troubling days, we managed to wipe out the disease," he says.
Though the disease has been eradicated from the country, Letshwenyo cautions that the war on FMD is far from over.
"The border still exists, and there are possibilities that the disease may find its way back to Botswana. We need to be vigilant in the control of animals, especially livestock and their products' movement between the borders," he says in reference to the Botswana-Zimbabwe border.
"There have been reports of people cutting the fence. This hampers our efforts in controlling the disease and making sure it does not come back. The challenge is upon us to seriously dedicate our efforts in protecting the fence from being tampered with again. At the moment, patrols are carried out by both the police and the army to stop culprits from cutting the fence," he says.