admin
Mhlupheki Dube
ONE of the most emotional aspects in the livestock industry in general and the beef value chain in particular is the marketing aspect.
I have attended several meetings involving producers and buyers and I can assure you that you are unlikely to witness sparks and tensions at such gatherings.
It is always a high voltage type of encounter with missiles and counter missiles flying across the room.
While solutions are not always easily found for this marketing conundrum it is important for leaders to put their heads together and come up with solutions. While many things about livestock markets and marketing can be in dispute, what is certainly not in contest is that producers are always holding the shorter end of the stick and are always left counting losses and licking the proverbial wounds. Buyers are meticulous and mathematical business people who almost always come out unscratched from any livestock business transaction because they are well acquainted with the industry.
The same cannot be said about Smart Tshuma from Makumbi in Masendu when he is trying to sell his beast.
In short smallholder farmers need Government protection when it comes to livestock marketing.
This is not to call for price controls but legislation that recognises inequality and addresses the imbalance.
It is the submission of this installment that a raft of measures needs to be instituted so as to protect smallholder farmers but still observing the dictates of a free market economy.
One such measure could be banning urban livestock marketing and ensure that all livestock sales are decentralised.
This means that Government can put a legislation which prohibits sales directly to abattoirs or urban auction centres.
Abattoirs are then forced to go and buy direct at community level whether through council organised auctions or through their own sales.
The immediate advantage of this is that it eliminates the transport cost which is usually incurred by farmers.
Secondly farmers still have bargaining power over their animals such that if they are not happy with the price being offered they withdraw their animal and hoof it to the grazing lands.
Whereas selling to abattoirs leaves farmers with absolutely no control because the transporter needs to be paid for the service meaning the farmer has to sell at any price.
In any case the animal is slaughtered and the price offered after wards when inspection and grading has been done, by then the process is irreversible. Decentralising sales will also help to boost local growth points since a lot of cash will be injected into the community after every sale.
Another important way of protecting smallholder livestock producers will be to capacitate the local authority so that they have both the technical knowledge and the human resource to run competitive livestock auctions.
Most local authorities do not have a livestock trained person in their organograms as the nearest they have is a natural resources officer who is mostly focused on conservation issues and less on livestock matters.
In fact livestock auctions in most local authorities are the responsibility of the finance department and the primary focus is levy collections and receipting.
The first step therefore will be for local authorities to restructure their organogram such that they incorporate a livestock person who understands the whole livestock industry and most importantly the beef value chain.
This person can then be tasked to run the council auctions because he knows who the buyers are and their expectations.
The existing livestock auction scenario at this district and sub-district level seriously needs to be changed for the better.
There are a number of local authorities who have completely abandoned their responsibility of organising livestock sales for their communities and speculators rule the roost and its needless to say that is no different from throwing farmers to the wolves!
Alternatively councils can adopt a livestock marketing system which is called “permit days” in Namibia.
This is nothing but a buying day that is announced over the radio and any such relevant media.
A price is also announced per grade therefore farmers go to the market knowing exactly how their animals are going to be bought.
This is, however, not an auction as it usually has one buyer buying. The advantage is that a farmer makes a pre- decision whether to go or not to go to the market. The disadvantage is that these may not be as regular as farmers want to sell and the buyer may not have a capacity to take all the animals on offer.
The ideas maybe wild but the objective is to try and stimulate a national discussion towards finding a sustainable and lasting solution in livestock marketing with special emphasis in protecting smallholder farmers who are players in a big league of big boys.
Feedback [email protected] or cell 0772851275.
Online Reporter