FMD Costs Botswana Beef Millions

Disease-related export restrictions have forced Botswana to surrender premium Norwegian beef quota worth about P75 million to Namibia. Botswana’s prolonged battle with foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) has handed Namibia an estimated N$100 million, about P75 million, export boost after disease-related restrictions prevented Botswana from fully using its premium Norwegian beef quota. The loss exposes the economic cost of recurring FMD outbreaks, which continue to erode Botswana’s competitiveness in high-value international beef markets while allowing regional rivals to expand their share.

Namibia’s Meat Corporation (Meatco) confirmed that it had secured an additional 344,766 kilograms of Norway-bound beef quota made available by Botswana under the Southern African Customs Union-European Free Trade Association (SACU-EFTA) quota-sharing arrangement. The extra allocation is projected to earn Namibia around N$100 million, lifting the expected value of Meatco’s Norwegian beef exports for 2026 to approximately N$365 million. The transfer came after Meatco exhausted its own quota by the end of June, five months earlier than it did last year.

The Namibian government then negotiated access to Botswana’s unused allocation rather than allowing it to expire. “Namibia has fully utilised the 2026 Norwegian beef export quota allocated to Meatco by the end of June,” the corporation said in an updated statement. Meatco said Botswana had made 459,688 kilograms of unused quota available, with 344,766 kilograms allocated to Namibia under the agreed SACU formula.

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Meatco Interim Chief Executive Officer Ambassador Albertus Aochamub described the allocation as a significant breakthrough for Namibia’s livestock sector. “Fully utilising our Norwegian quota by June is a significant milestone for Namibia’s beef industry and demonstrates the continued confidence that international customers place in premium Namibian beef,” said Aochamub. He added: “We welcome the agreement between the Governments of Namibia and Botswana, which enables Namibia to further benefit from this important market, and we are committed to fully utilising the additional allocation before 31 December 2026.” Addressing Namibian Prime Minister Elijah Ngurare during a visit to Meatco’s Windhoek abattoir, Aochamub acknowledged that Botswana’s disease challenges had created the opportunity.

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