Namibia exploring new markets as FMD bites deep…farmers crying for help

Namibia is aggressively pursuing alternative international trade partners to rescue its multi-billion-dollar meat industry following sudden export suspensions by major global markets triggered by the ongoing Foot-and-Mouth Disease (FMD) outbreak.

With traditional, lucrative trade routes effectively frozen, the Livestock and Livestock Products Board of Namibia (LLPBN) is pivoting its strategy toward “FMD-equivalent” markets, primarily across the African continent, that operate under flexible regulatory frameworks compatible with Namibia’s current health status.

Speaking at a recent community crisis meeting convened by the Rehoboth Community Trust, LLPBN marketing manager Desmond Cloete said highlighted the existential nature of the search for new markets.

The gathering in Rehoboth brought together local farming communities and industry stakeholders to unpack the devastating ripple effects of the outbreak on regional economies.

“And we are hard at work to secure new markets. A more FMD equivalent markets that will allow us with our current status to enter those markets. So, we are busy with some negotiations, especially regional markets on the continent, those markets that are not too over-sensitive to our current FMD status that will allow us to export because we need to get those markets as soon as possible,” said Cloete.

Meanwhile, LLPBN’s Manager of Farm Assured Namibia, Victor Klazen, used the platform to appeal directly to producers, stating that stringent biosecurity is no longer optional but a baseline requirement for economic survival.

“Basically, if it protects the farmers’ animals’ wellbeing in terms of ensuring that these animals are not exposed to diseases, then it takes into consideration the current outbreak of FMD in the south of the country, and farmers need to have biosecurity on their farms. They need to make sure that people entering their farms are disinfected, and vehicles entering their farm and exiting the farms are disinfected, and this is protecting their animal health status on his or her farm.”

Farmers at the Rehoboth meeting raised urgent concerns over a compounding financial crisis, which includes soaring costs of feed, water, and livestock maintenance yielding zero returns, as healthy animals remain stranded on farms with no accessible commercial outlets.

One such farmer, Karl Fish, said they are barely surviving in terms of their farming operations.

“It’s very difficult for all the farmers in all the regions in terms of this, so we can’t move animals, we can’t move meat products, we don’t have income, so anything that happens at the farms comes from our pockets, and we have to borrow money from the banks with big interest in terms of survival for the future,” said Fish.

As the state scrambles to open new trade corridors, industry regulators are warning that the recovery hinges entirely on containment and farm-level discipline.

Namibia is actively managing two separate, unrelated outbreaks of FMD in the //Kharas and Zambezi regions, which have led to strict livestock movement bans, emergency vaccination campaigns, and a temporary suspension of beef exports.

It marks the first time the virus has breached the country’s recognized FMD-free zone in roughly 60 years.

Major premium international markets, including the European Union, the United States, China, and South Africa, have suspended Namibian meat imports.

To date, Namibia has vaccinated a total of 62 180 cattle against foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) across the //Kharas and Zambezi regions. As of last week, Namibia was still grappling with 131 FMD cases spread across 18 infected farms in the southern region.

The FMD outbreaks confirmed in the //Kharas and Zambezi regions are entirely unrelated and differ drastically in their geographical zones, transmission sources, and normal disease-control classifications.

In the //Kharas region, management relies heavily on intense surveillance, targeted livestock tracing across dozens of commercial farms, and strict movement controls to clear the virus entirely and restore the zone’s valuable export status.

For the Zambezi region, which is an endemic zone, the response focuses on localised ring containment, such as isolating Kalala Island, livestock movement halts within the region, and emergency ring vaccination campaigns tailored for wildlife-adjacent zones.

[email protected]

The post Namibia exploring new markets as FMD bites deep…farmers crying for help appeared first on New Era.