Presenting before the Parliament’s Committee of Supply recently, the Minister of Agriculture, Fidelis Molao, said the project is nearing completion and will start commissioning by the end of March. “The ongoing construction of Tsabong Multi-Species abattoir is at 98% completion and the expected date of commissioning will be the end of March 2024,” he said.
The long-awaited P161 million abattoir will be operated by the Botswana Meat Commission (BMC) under the Ministry of Entrepreneurship.
Molao had earlier noted that the ministry plans to lease out the abattoir to a private investor after completion. He said the investor is the one who will then determine the number of people to employ to efficiently operate the business adding that farmers will supply the live animals to the abattoir or the abattoir could go into a farming contract with the investor.
The abattoir will service the Kgalagadi, Kweneng West and Southern districts and it is expected to play a key role in marketing Botswana beef, mutton, lamb, chevon and game meat. The facility will also be instrumental in facilitating the production and marketing of livestock and game products thus diversify the country’s export revenue. In addition, it will facilitate the growth of the livestock sector skills transfer and dissemination as it is one of the critical links to the implementation of the beef and small stock cluster strategies, which are key in improving commercialisation.
Meanwhile, Parliament last December passed the Meat Industry Regulatory Authority (MIRA) Bill and regulations are being developed. MIRA is a strategic initiative towards supporting the ongoing institutional and regulatory reforms in the livestock sector and industry in Botswana while it is also aimed at liberalising export market hence drive the livestock sector efficiencies. The beef cluster strategy, which seeks to position Botswana beef as a unique product that would remain attractive in the global niche markets, is being implemented.
This will be achieved through the promotion of Botswana grass-fed beef by training the beef value chain players to adjust their production systems so that they can meet the requirement of the highly competitive global niche markets.
