Niël Terblanché
A new butchery at the Amarika Farmers’ Cooperative near Outapi in the Omusati Region will focus on adding value to the produce of rural farmers.
The butchery was officially opened by the Minister of Agriculture, Water and Land Reform Calle Schlettwein last week.
During the official opening of the new facility, the agriculture minister called on all the local farmers and residents in the region to support the efforts of the Amarika Farmers’ Cooperative in their quest to increase livestock production and in maximizing their profits.
Schlettwien also called on the Amarika Farmers’ Cooperative to gain better knowledge of commercial livestock production to continue supplying meat to butcheries in a sustainable manner.
Sclettwein said the butchery management must continue with product development and capacity building to be able to supply other regions with meat products and ultimately export to other African countries in the near future.
“I have no doubt in my mind that this initiative will go a long way in motivating and encouraging local farmers to produce more livestock and supply to butcheries for the benefit of all the residents of the Omusati Region,” he said.
Because of the current drought situation, the butchery is able to only source 60 percent of its raw materials from farmers in the Amarika Collective while the rest is sourced from other farmers in the region.
The butchery will supply prospective customers with popular meat cuts and other tasty processed meat products such as biltong viennas, russians and dried sausage.
Besides officially opening the butchery, Schlettwein also handed over N$28 million worth of farming equipment and infrastructure to the farmers of the collective.
He said that the development of the collective and the equipment was made possible by the Programme for Communal Land Development (PCLD).
Schlettwein indicated that the agriculture ministry developed the infrastructure that would serve roughly 490 000 hectares of communal land in the designated areas of the Omusati, Ohangwena, Kavango East, Kavango West, Zambezi, Omaheke and Otjozondjupa regions to the tune of N$181.1 million. The development includes 74 installed boreholes; 169 kilometres of water pipelines; 877 kilometres of fencing; and 20 cattle handling facilities.
He said during the handover that the indicated infrastructure benefits farming households in the designated communal areas and provides them with the opportunity to contribute to and benefit from the agricultural sector.
“The Amarika Farmer’s Cooperative covers an area of 40 000 hectares and there are 122 registered members of the Cooperative who will benefit from the 53-kilometre of water pipeline, six water points and 56-kilometre rangeland fencing to improve their livestock management practices and improved market orientation,” he said.
