Namibia estimates it needs far more money than it has already set aside to shield its livestock industry from an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease that has plagued cloven-hoofed animals in neighbouring South Africa.
The southwest African nation has allocated N$57 million ($3.6 million), just a fraction of the estimated N$1.5 billion it requires to protect its animals against the highly contagious disease, Agriculture Minister Inge Zaamwani told lawmakers Tuesday.
The money will go toward strengthening border patrols, enhancing surveillance and setting up disease-control and buffer zones, said Zaamwani.
Preserving FMD-free status is crucial for the economy of Namibia, where livestock farming comprises about two-thirds of the country’s agricultural output, while beef exports account for the largest share of outbound shipments.
Authorities in South Africa — the continent’s biggest beef producer — are investigating a case of FMD in the town of Kuruman that’s located in the Northern Cape and is about 400 kilometers (249 miles) from the border with southern Namibia, the Diamond Field Advertiser reported, citing Red Meat Producers’ Organisation Northern Cape Operations Officer Yolande Botha.
Eight of South Africa’s nine provinces are battling the highly contagious disease that causes blisters and sores in the mouths and feet of cattle, sheep, goats and pigs due to vaccine shortages and uncontrolled movement of animals.
Canceled auctions and restrictions on transporting livestock have caused a supply squeeze, pushing the rate of meat-price growth to the highest level in eight years.
The outbreak of the FMD in South Africa brings “the threat closer to home, posing “a persistent and escalating threat to Namibia due to shared borders, cross-border livestock movements and regional trade dynamics,” Zaamwani said.
Separately, Botswana, which borders Namibia to the east, has also reported an outbreak of the sickness in a zone that was previously considered FMD-free.
BLOOMBERG
