Gap Analysis on the Implementation of Commodity-Based Trade of Beef in Ngamiland, Botswana Final Report - September 2019 AHEAD (Animal & Human Health for the Environment And Development) Programme Cornell University Citation Atkinson, S. J., Bing, M., McNutt, J. W., Marshall, C., Masedi, M., Osofsky, S. A., Penrith, M-L., Ramsden, N., Ross, K. S., Thomson, G. R., van Rooyen, J., & Worobo, R. W. (2019). Gap Analysis on the Implementation of Commodity-Based Trade of Beef in Ngamiland, Botswana. Report prepared in consultation with the Government of Botswana’s Department of Veterinary Services. AHEAD programme, Cornell University. 120 pp. Editors Shirley J. Atkinson AHEAD Programme, Cornell University Mary-Louise Penrith TAD Scientific Nidhi Ramsden Seanama Conservation Consultancy Project team contributors Shirley J. Atkinson AHEAD Programme, Cornell University Mark Bing Vetswana Botswana J. W. “Tico” McNutt Botswana Predator Conservation Trust Clive Marshall Marshall Cattle Services Mokadi Masedi Habu Elephant Development Trust/North West Integrated Farmers Association Steven A. Osofsky AHEAD Programme, Cornell University Mary-Louise Penrith TAD Scientific Nidhi Ramsden Seanama Conservation Consultancy Karen S. Ross Independent consultant Gavin R. Thomson TAD Scientific Jacques van Rooyen Herding for Health Programme, Conservation International/Peace Parks Foundation Randy W. Worobo College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Cornell University The contents of this report are the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the donor organisations who supported this work, the contributors’ home institutions, or the perspectives of our governmental and/or regional partners. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Overview Ngamiland District in north-western Botswana is home to an estimated 152,200 people and 317,000 privately owned cattle. It is also home to the Okavango Delta and its rich wetlands and wildlife, and lies at the heart of the Kavango Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area (KAZA TFCA), Africa’s largest conservation and development landscape. Livestock production and wildlife-based tourism are the primary land uses. The income from tourism is an important source of foreign exchange and contributor to Botswana’s GDP. However, the full potential economic benefits from livestock production are not being realised, because cattle farmers in the district are excluded from higher value beef markets due to the proximity of wildlife, particularly African buffalo that are the reservoir host of the South African Territories (SAT) serotypes of foot and mouth disease (FMD) virus. The traditional standards for international trade in livestock commodities, which require beef production areas (countries or zones) to be free from FMD, restrict market access and penalise livestock owners who share the land with wildlife. Periodic outbreaks of FMD also cause disruptions in the local market due to movement restrictions, with devastating effects on the district level economy and local livelihoods. In addition, attempts to meet international standards by creating and maintaining FMD-free zones that depend largely on extensive use of disease control fencing have had significant negative repercussions for free-ranging wildlife. Wildlife is one of Botswana’s greatest assets and the status of the district as an FMD-infected ‘red zone’ is unlikely to change in the near future. However, this does not mean that the district cannot produce FMD-free beef. Commodity-based trade (CBT) approaches that focus on the safety of the beef production process and the beef itself, rather than on the animal disease situation in the locality of production, are scientifically sound and effective. They are also compatible with modern animal production and trade standards, as set by the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE). These non-geographic (i.e. non-fence based) CBT approaches to managing trade-associated risks from diseases like FMD offer potential to effectively integrate livestock and wildlife-based enterprises. Furthermore, implementing CBT in an integrated way that includes improved husbandry (herding and kraaling) and rangeland management practices would help mitigate conflict between wildlife and livestock and make cattle production more sustainable and environmentally friendly, thus lending itself to the marketing of ‘wildlife friendly beef’. The successful development of this approach in Ngamiland would be a ‘win-win’ for sustainable and diversified land use and livelihoods. Under the Government of Botswana’s (GoB) Ministry of Agricultural Development and Food Security (MoA), the Department of Veterinary Services (DVS) has been partnering with Cornell University’s AHEAD (Animal & Human Health for the Environment And Development) programme for several years now to re-look at the way in which FMD is managed in Ngamiland, with a focus on reducing trade disruptions due to outbreaks and enabling sustainable beef trade through CBT-based approaches. To assist DVS in these efforts, the collaborative project investigated the components of the beef value chain in Ngamiland with a view to facilitating adoption of a CBT approach in order to sustainably improve market access, diversify economic opportunities and enable coexistence between livestock and wildlife. While the concept has been well received at multiple levels (government, private sector, producer), sustainability of this CBT value chain approach will depend on it delivering clear financial benefits to cattle producers and other value chain actors. The potential profitability of the current production and marketing systems is hampered by a number of obstacles that need to be addressed in order to improve market access and thereby incentivise more investment in the sector and CBT approaches. The purpose of this report is to document the results of a gap analysis performed on the components of the value chain in the production of wildlife friendly beef and provide practical recommendations to address the gaps identified. The findings and recommendations are based on extensive consultations with various stakeholder groups, workshops, fieldwork and analyses, with funding provided to Cornell University’s AHEAD programme through a “Wildlife Friendly Beef” (WFB) grant from the Atkinson Center for a Sustainable Future, with additional support from The Rockefeller Foundation. Under the AHEAD umbrella, a multi-disciplinary project team, in close collaboration with DVS, undertook this work between November 2017 and July 2019. The gaps, together with practical recommendations, have been validated by relevant stakeholders and are summarised below. i Gaps and recommendations This study, as well as a complementary market opportunities study conducted in 2017 (http://www.wcs- ahead.org/kaza/171003_rpt_final_marketopportunitiesforcbtbeef_ngamiland.pdf), revealed that a range of potential markets exist for beef produced in Ngamiland, but currently only a few of these are being accessed, namely mainly lower value local markets and at least one SADC country of equivalent FMD status that does not require certification of freedom from FMD. Potentially high value local markets are also not fully exploited, for example, the market for WFB offered by Ngamiland’s tourism industry. While tourism contributes an estimated 11.5% to Botswana’s GDP, with most of it focused on photographic wildlife tourism deriving from international markets, to date there are almost no linkages between the tourism industry and local producers of domestic products. This is in part a consequence of an absence of domestic production of consumer goods, but nowhere is there a greater disconnect between an industry demand for product and the local production of that product than in Ngamiland’s beef sales. Opportunities also exist for developing secondary processing/value addition although investment in infrastructure and capacity building will be required. Development of niche products such as WFB salamis, sausages and biltong does, however, offer an opportunity for local entrepreneurs and artisanal industries to develop. Other potential markets exist in countries of equivalent FMD status in and outside the SADC region. Implementing a CBT value chain approach to WFB production could enable access to markets in FMD-free countries or zones for beef commodities and products that comply with OIE Terrestrial Animal Health Code (TAHC) Article 8.8.22 (i.e. through quarantine) for beef produced in areas not free of FMD – as well as via Article 8.8.31 for beef that has been processed in such a way as to destroy the FMD virus. Pre-slaughter quarantine functioned satisfactorily in Ngamiland prior to 2007, as no FMD outbreaks in any quarantine station (QS) or anywhere else in Ngamiland were reported. The present situation, with frequent outbreaks in the district and probable circulation of FMD virus in cattle, demands rigorous implementation of a high level of biosecurity to prevent outbreaks in the QS and provide a level of assurance that supports export certification. It’s also important to note that the requirement for pre-slaughter quarantine of cattle (under TAHC Article 8.8.22) is currently resulting in a bottleneck due to a number of issues, including producers’ reluctance to quarantine their animals, and the location, holding space and physical state of the existing quarantines. While progress is being made on rehabilitating the QS at Makalamabedi, having a single QS located a considerable distance from most of the main cattle-producing