Meatco

Meatco and the Danish Coop are working together to bring branded Namibian beef to consumers in Europe.  Currently in Africa only Namibia, Botswana and Swaziland meet the strict standards required to export meat to the EU. Thus, despite the fact that the global protein trade continues to grow and the price of protein continues to rise, African farmers of all types are largely excluded from this market. This project aims to further develop exports of meat from Namibia by developing a business model that adds value through brand development and channels the benefits of this to smaller scale producers.

Meat production (particularly for export) is one of the most highly regulated global markets and yet can provide a significant financial return. Meatco and the Danish Coop have developed “Savannah family packs” of Namibian beef suitable for retail in Europe.   Over the last three years it has been shown that the EU and Scandinavian consumer will accept Namibian beef not just as a safe or quality product but as a premium natural brand. The product will be packed at source in Namibia and branded with a “development” label - a bold and innovative marketing strategy.

Namibia has very little potential for plant based agriculture as most of the accessible water lies under the ground. The vast size of the country provides plenty of arid sustainable grazing land suitable for both beef and lamb. In Namibia there are three kinds of cattle farmer – Pastoralist, ‘Emerging’ and Commercial. Although the pastoralists in the north of Namibia are excluded from export to Europe by the regulatory regime and a physical fence demarcation zone, the profits from this project and Meatco export activities are used to provide assistance to these farmers.

This project introduces around 250 emerging farmers into a secure niche export market but more importantly shows that there is a premium market for non-pure bred pedigree cattle that are far out of the reach of the emerging farmers. In addition to this, Meatco has established a loan scheme with a major Namibian commercial bank to lend money to farmers against a fixed final price for the slaughter animals. This bridging finance helps emerging farmers to wait the extra 18 months until slaughter rather than selling at a cheap price to South African Feedlots. This project channels this emerging farmer product into a premium market and provides a clear incentive to expand this innovative finance scheme and develop a new industry layer.