Published July 27, 2010 07:15
The erection of 70 multipurpose crush pens in the Northern Communal Areas (NCA) is already bearing fruit with cattle in certain areas being gathered and loaded for the market for the first time in 20 years.
The crush pens are funded by the European Union (EU) and the erection thereof facilitated by Meatco Namibia.
Within only three days of completion of a crush pen at Uutsathima in the Omusati region, 80 cattle were gathered in the kraal and loaded for slaughtering at Meatco’s Oshakati abattoir.
According to Meatco’s Regional Livestock Procurement Manager for the NCA, Mr. Patrick Liebenberg, this was the first time in 20 years that a single animal from the Uutsathima area could be loaded for marketing to Meatco citing lack of proper loading facilities in the past.
“Many farmers in the far rural areas for the first time now have the opportunity to assemble and load cattle at a kraal nearby their villages. Producers and community members alike are in agreement that the crush pens will be one of the biggest single success stories in terms of the increase in livestock marketing in the NCA,” he says.
Meatco is facilitating the development of 70 crush pens with some N$13 million availed by the EU. Twelve kraals are to be erected in the Kunene region, ten in Oshana, nine in Omusati, twelve in Oshikoto, nine in Ohangwena, nineteen in the Kavango and another two in the Tsumkwe-west areas.
Traditional authorities were closely involved during the site identification processes and the kraals are being erected within a 40 kilometer radius of each other. This tremendously reduces the trekking distances of cattle to abattoirs which, in turn, realizes a higher income for producers. Producers are remunerated according to carcass quality and weight and in the past, animals would lose much of their valuable body weight during treks to the abattoirs.
The crush pens will help Meatco bring its services closes to producers and at the same time assist with the branding, vaccination, dehorning and sorting of cattle.
The pens are constructed with steel to ensure durability and are fitted with adjustable loading ramps to suit all trucks or vehicles used for the loading and off-loading. Upon completion, the pens are handed over to the traditional authority of the particular area to ensure usage by community members under the supervision of the authority.
Forty-two crush pens have been completed and are being used in the Oshikoto, Omusati, Kunene and Kavango regions.
Within only three days of completion of one of these crush pens at Uutsathima in the Omusati region, 80 cattle were gathered and loaded for slaughtering at Meatco’s Oshakati abattoir. Photo: Patrick Liebenberg, Meatco