Namibia’s shrinking national herd has driven up the average price of slaughter-ready cattle to N$51/kg in August 2021, figures from the Meat Board of Namibia show.
Meat Board’s Namibian livestock sector overview shows that cattle marketed from January to August this year decreased by 15.87% compared to the same period last year.
The report reveals that 174 902 cattle were marketed by August 2020 compared to 147 146 marketed by August this year.
According to the report, during the months of April and May 2021, Namibia was paying a competitive price against Uruguay, Argentina and Brazil, the world’s biggest beef exporters.
Namibian weaner prices this year, according to the Meat Board are on average N$39.58 compared to South Africa’s N$37.90.
Around last year in August, export abattoirs contributed 21% to the cattle marketed, however, there is a significant improvement this year of 26%.
According to the Namibian Statistics Agency (NSA), the agricultural sector performed relatively well in the bizarre shadow of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Official figures show that the sector’s contribution to the gross domestic product (GDP) grew from 4.5% in 2019 to almost 6.6% in 2020, with primary livestock production accounting for more than 55% of this figure.
