Chronicle Editor
Farming issues, Mhlupheki Dube
THE recent launch of a traceability system that is meant to boost Government efforts towards penetrating the beef export market is commendable.
The system will not only help beef farmers to penetrate the lucrative export market but it will spur our beef producers to aim for quality. It is no secret that the export market is by definition a niche market which demands very high quality standards.
You want to be part of this market you have no choice but to uphold very high levels of production standards.
Zimbabwe has not been exporting beef since the early 2000s. This means as a country we have been losing on this important market for more than 20 years now and hence the excitement that is brought by this new innovation around traceability in the beef sector, because it will open a door that has been shut for this long for beef producers in this country.
It is however, my prayer that this launched system actually goes beyond the glitz and glamour of the launching occasion and be implemented. We have seen many useful things failing to go beyond the launching process and we don’t wish that for this noble technology in the beef value chain. That being said, I wish to point out to the innovators that there is a massive beef producing sector which may not qualify for export quota because of the requisite quality demands but this sector can certainly benefit from a similar traceability technology.
This is in fact the bigger chunk of the beef producers, the smallholder farmers who hold close to 90 percent of the national beef herd. The appeal therefore to the innovators of such traceability systems, is to design and produce a system or gadget that is customised for smallholder livestock producers.
This time the intention should not be to comply with rigorous requirements of the export market but to curb livestock losses and reduce stock theft. Almost every day one finds pictures and messages posted in various social media platforms by desperate farmers who are searching for their lost livestock.
Can we not have a simple system that a farmer can use even on his or her smart phone to trace his or her animals in the veld? A system that is based on GPS and can provide real time location for the farmer’s animals. Perhaps this already exists in the market, if so can producers of such make cheaper and affordable versions of such a traceability system so that a majority of the farmers can afford and adopt it. It is such inventions and innovations that I would wish to see occupying most of the space in our agricultural shows and trade fairs because such systems answer to everyday challenges of the livestock farmer.
I talk of a cheaper and affordable technology so that farmers can adopt and popularise the technology. Zimbabweans we have this penchant to overprice our commodity especially when we see that it is in demand. At times the overpricing is even difficult to explain and justify.
A quick example is that of the cellphone technology when it came in. A cellphone sim card was sold at a price which would easily buy you a pedigree heifer, yet our neighbours across borders were selling these at less than US$1. This kind of elitist and exclusionist approach to market penetration is not ideal. The call therefore, is for inventors and innovators to bring simple to use and affordable traceability system that can be used by smallholder livestock farmers, primarily to keep tabs on their animals and prevent stock theft which is a perennial challenge in livestock production.
I want to be seated in the comfort of my lounge and be still able to keep track on the whereabouts of my prized bull by merely glancing on the screen of my phone! Let’s have that technology simplified and popularised and we have solved a livestock farmer’s nightmare.
Uyabonga umntakaMaKhumalo. Mhlupheki Dube is a livestock specialist and farmer. He writes in his personal capacity. Feed [email protected]/cell 0772851275.
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