Meat Regulator Bill spells end of BMC monopoly
Lewanika Timothy | Monday July 24, 2023 06:00
Reading the motion for the second time in Parliament, Minister of Agriculture, Fidelis Molao, said government has been worried about the dwindling contribution of livestock sales to the mainstream economy, adding that this has been a point of pain for the local economy.
“I wish to start by indicating that the livestock industry, specifically the beef subsector, has over the years experienced a drastic shift, from being one of the major contributors to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) at independence to the current (contribution of) less than two percent,” he said.
The Botswana Meat Commission has been solely responsible for purchasing and exporting cattle products in the country, asserting its monopoly by controlling all operations in the livestock value chain.
Local farmers have in the past lashed out against the commission, bemoaning limited value in the industry as the parastatal controls the slaughter, prices, and payment processes for most commercial-grade cattle produced in the country.
The BMC has been weighed down by structural failures, price inefficiency, and corruption, factors that have added salt to the wound of the struggling local livestock industry, much to the dismay of local farmers. The commission, like most parastatals, has struggled to stay afloat for years, weighed down by the operating costs of its Francistown and Maun abattoirs, frequent disease outbreaks and more recently, poor throughput due in part to the live cattle export option given to farmers by government since October 2020.
“Farmers have consistently blamed the lack of policy reform as the cause of the dismal performance of the subsector. “Specifically, the BMC monopoly has been associated with inherent inefficiencies, which have denied stakeholders the benefits associated with free market competition, including investment by both local and foreign investors,” Molao said.
The proposed Meat Industry Regulator Authority intends to adopt a privatised approach to enhance and ensure the profitability, sustainability, and competitiveness of the meat industry. The Bill’s text further reveals that the regulatory body shall be given powers to control the import and exports of livestock to the benefit of local farmers in a bid to enhance their access to international markets.
Despite the Bill being a long-awaited move, some stakeholders have come out to express their mixed emotions over some sections of the text.
Member of Parliament for Jwaneng/Mabutsane, Mephato Reatile, while deliberating on the proposed bill in Parliament, said that though the legislation is a welcome development, the administration of the intended regulator is a source of concern as there may be political interference with how it operates.
“Part Three of the Bill accords the Minister a lot of powers including the power to appoint board members, chairperson of the board and the chief executive officer, which is worrying,” he said.
Reatile said the minister, who is a political officer should not be deeply entrenched in the operations and functions of a regulator which seeks to operate on purely economic lines.