Namibia is crisscrossed by thousands of kilometres of fences, all of them barriers of sorts to protect what is on one side of the fence from something on the other side.
Fences can be used for many purposes, whether animal disease control, tribal borders, defence lines, political and military reasons, sovereign borders between neighbouring states, farm borders, and more.
They always establish and protect exclusivity.
The redline is by far the most prominent barrier in Namibia and may have contributed to inequality by unevenly dividing economic opportunities in livestock production unevenly.
Once a mere line on a map, the very real conundrum this barrier poses is still alive in independent Namibia.
DISEASE DILEMMAS
Namibia has always been a surplus producer of cattle: exporting beef or cattle on the hoof has created significant wealth pre- and post-independence.
The dual economy in Namibia, with a commercial agricultural livestock sector south of the fence and a communal farming sector north of it, makes the divide evident.
The split between the commercial, disease-free livestock sector south of the redline and the communal sector in the north, where diseases remain prevalent, is an ugly remnant of the divide-and-rule strategies of the colonial powers.
It is perpetuated by yesteryear’s successes in animal disease control and ridding the south of contagious animal diseases like rinderpest, foot and mouth disease (FMD) and bovine pleuropneumonia.
The north remains affected by some of these diseases.
Despite post-independence efforts aimed at a disease-free north, permeable borders with neighbouring countries with little or no interest in eliminating these diseases makes effective disease control difficult.
Another factor is the migrating of cattle into neighbouring countries like Angola and Zambia in search of grazing.
TRADITIONAL FACTORS
Following independence, the redline was not only recognised as a veterinary cordon fence (VCF) but as a division between commercial and communal administration.
This can be primarily linked to strong traditional chiefs who supported Swapo and the need to maintain their authority as tribal heads in their communal areas.
It was necessary to enable Namibia, as a new nation, to reconcile from war and to maintain peace.
The right to practise traditions and cultures was thus enshrined in the Constitution (article 19) and later more comprehensively, in the Traditional Authorities Act (2000) and the Communal Land Reform Act (2002).
INDUSTRY IMPLICATIONS
To effectively redress the VCF’s negative consequences requires a complex combination of actions.
This will have to take into account the social context of people living next to the borders between Namibia and Angola, Namibia and Botswana, Namibia and Zambia, and Namibia and South Africa, as well as cross-border coordination and cooperation between these countries.
Such actions need to enhance the welfare and be in the public interest of Namibia as a whole, as well as livestock producers in the northern communal areas (NCA).
Therefore, the translocation or total removal of the VCF, or discontinuing its use in controlling and preventing animal diseases spreading, is not a simple action that can happen overnight.
Essential and sufficient conditions need to be in place to prevent the progress made to date being undermined.
It can also not come at the cost of Namibia losing its status as a country having a free zone as described.
The net loss at all levels of the beef value chain if the VCF is abruptly removed would be difficult to absorb economically.
It would also have adverse consequences for social welfare in Namibia.
Thus the notion that, when some parts of the country are exposed to vulnerabilities, the rest of the country must be opened up to similar vulnerabilities cannot be supported.
Rather, the objective must be to nullify the negative effects of the VCF by implementing concerted actions to achieve animal disease freedom for the whole country, and the NCA in particular.
ALL FOR ONE
At the same time, marketing opportunities have to be developed for livestock originating from areas still plagued by diseases.
The commodity based trade regime, combined with upgrading abattoirs in the NCA to registered abattoirs, was developed for these areas to enable farmers to trade with fresh and processed meat across the VCF.
The entire domestic market is now open to all livestock producers who slaughter their animals at registered abattoirs.
Secondly, an equalisation fund is being created through which equal prices are assured for equal products, regardless of their origin.
This is required to nullify any consumer price bias against meat products from areas north of the VCF.
Market access for Namibian meat products has been achieved for some Middle East nations as well as the whole of Africa through the AU’s Continental Free Trade Area.
MAKING IT HAPPEN
A country’s animal disease status dictates possible export access to the best paying markets internationally, and with it the socio-economic benefits derived from cattle farming.
Recently, the government announced a phased alternative – moving the veterinary cordon fence northwards in compartments – as the most feasible approach in the public interest and for the entire sector:
Areas north of the VCF able to continuously stay disease-free for 50 years are now under consideration to be declared disease-free.
Farmers in these areas would immediately enjoy all the benefits associated with disease-free status.
Consultations with all stakeholders and international regulators are underway.
- * Calle Schlettwein is the minister of agriculture, water and land reform.
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