Africa-Press – Namibia. LIKWAMA Farmers Union chairperson Alfred Chilinda says farmers can still not access the markets despite the recent lifting of the foot-and-mouth (FMD) disease restrictions in the Zambezi region.
He attributed this to the fact that meat slaughtered during the FMD outbreak is still not sold due to policy issues, and this is blocking the farmers.
During an interview with The Namibian yesterday, Chilinda noted that more than 5 000 sealed boxes of meat are in storage at the Katima Mulilo abattoir, though no technical or scientific proof of the presence of FMD was found.
“Proper commodity-based trade protocols were followed, but still DVS (the Division of Veterinary Services) won’t allow meat to leave the Katima Mulilo abattoir chillers. Farmers need to be rescued out of this mess the lawmakers for them to be access the market after the FMD outbreak. The government either needs to find a market or tell us what is going to happen,” he said.
Zambezi has been battling the FMD outbreak since May last year and this has had a negative impact on the trading of livestock in the region. However, last month, the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Land Reform announced that they had successfully controlled and contained the FMD outbreak.
In the statement, chief veterinary officer Albertina Shilongo noted that, according to the intensive disease surveillance conducted by the DVS, the last confirmed FMD case was reported in the region on 4 November 2021.
She added that this was done in line with Namibia’s FMD contingency plan, which says outbreak restrictions in the FMD protection and infected zones can be lifted three months after the last confirmed case.
“To prevent future outbreaks, vaccination against FMD will continue in the region, and farmers are urged to bring their cattle to crush pens when announcements are made by veterinary services,” she said.
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