Operationalisation of Beef Value Chain Development project and Outapi Abattoir to benefit the North
The Beef Value Chain Development in the Northern Communal Areas (NCAs) Project and the Outapi Abattoir was recently handed over to the operators by the Minister of Agriculture, Water and Forestry, Hon. Alpheus !Naruseb.
The project is being implemented because the livestock and meat industry in this part of the country has been experiencing serious marketing challenges, at local and intentional levels.
!Naruseb said one of the main objectives of the Beef Value Chain Development for NCAs project is to create diversified marketing opportunities both in the domestic and export markets for meat originating in the NCAs.
“I am pleased to note that the operator has entered into a joint venture agreement with a private meat processing firm, linking meat produced in this abattoir to a processing facility in Oshakati,” added !Naruseb.
!Naruseb explained that upliftment of cattle farmers in the Northern Communal Areas is depended on their participation in the formal and mainstream economy and the operations of the facilities under this project are expected to be linked, therefore enhancing the formal livestock and meat industry in the NCAs.
“The handover and operationalization of the Outapi abattoir comes as a great relief to farmers of this abattoir’s catchment area, namely, the Omusati and Oshana Regions, as well as farmers in some parts of Kunene north, west of Oshikoto and Ohangwena regions, because NCA farmers in general could not formally market their cattle for slaughter purposes for the last four years, due to the closure of the Oshakati and Katima Mulilo abattoirs,” he added.
The Minister said that the Beef Value Chain Development for NCAs project is an important building block under the Government’s Growth at Home Strategy and its aligned to national development policies as articulated in the fifth National Development Plant, the Harambee Prosperity Plan and Vision 2030.
Meanwhile, he added that the Eenhana abattoir is 95% complete and its handover to the operator is expected to be effected by the end of July, while the Ongwediva Meat Processing facility is 65% complete and it is expected to be completed by the end of this financial year.
