Pork industry faces challenge with few commercial producers

While global pork consumption is expected to grow substantially over the next few years, one of the key challenges facing the pork industry in Namibia is the limited number of commercial pork producers in the country.

The rest are small-scale producers not registered with the Livestock Products Board of Namibia (LLPB).

Global pork consumption is projected to grow by 8% or 131 million tonnes by 2033.

Asia, Latin America, Africa and North America are expected to produce the highest volumes of pork over the next decade, while Europe’s production will likely decrease by 3.1%.

This is according to the LLPB’s Desmond Cloete and Utjevera Tjiramba who spoke at the recent Pig Producers Association information session in Windhoek.

“Pork production remains one of the more intensive farming operations in Namibia, consisting of commercial and backyard producers. This is why it is important to protect the industry and encourage local growth,” said Tjiramba.

The LLPB said local pig slaughtering has increased by 8.92% from 26 258 between January and July 2023 to 28 599 between January and July 2024.

The market share of pork imports, excluding processed products, decreased by 67.7%. Namibia imported most of its pork from Germany (71%), followed by South Africa (16%) and Botswana (12%).

Pressure

It said the price for pork decreased by 14.43% in the United States, dropping from N$41.01 per kg in July 2023 to N$35.09 in May.

However, Cloete pointed out that, due to the pork ceiling price, which is fixed at N$51.03, Namibian producers currently receive the best price per kg in the world.

“However, producers remain under severe pressure due to rising input costs,” the LLPB said.

It said one of the key challenges for the industry is the fact that there are only a few commercial producers in the country.



Numbers

The two largest are the Haloli and Mariental Piggeries, which supply half of the pork consumed in Namibia.

“We have a lot of small-scale producers (backyard) that are not registered with the LLPB. The issue with these producers is that they have no bio-secure pens and feed their animals kitchen scraps. Most of the pigs slaughtered are also for own consumption,” the LLPB noted.

It said the latest census (2022) indicated there are 95 920 pigs in Namibia, of which 47 278 are found south of the veterinary cordon fence on 2 049 establishments.

A total of 46 170 pigs are found in the northern communal areas among 1 520 establishments.

“The registration of establishments with the LLPB is crucial. It helps the directorate of veterinary services to monitor farms in case of disease outbreaks. It also makes it easier to conduct farm inspections to make sure that all farms adhere to the double-fencing regulation designed to keep warthogs away,” said Cloete.





Market share

He reiterated the importance of the pork market share promotion scheme (PMSPS), which was implemented in 2012.

It is now in its second phase – each phase lasts eight years.

“The scheme helps to ensure that pork does not become too expensive compared to other protein sources. It does, however, not attract small-scale farmers because they often receive higher prices selling directly to the market, often slaughtering pigs on the farm,” he said.

The PMSPS is a carcass-based scheme with quantitative restrictions. Local processors are required to buy pork from local producers first before they receive an import permit from the LLPB. The procurement ratio between February and September was 1:2, meaning for every 1 kg bought locally, 2 kg can be imported, and 1:3 for October and January. The latter is higher due to a shortage of pork during the festive season.

The LLPB said going forward, it is investigating the opportunity to amend and expand the PMSPS to include small-scale producers by stimulating offtake in the northern communal areas through a code of good practice. Moreover, quantitative restrictions versus a levy-based system are also being investigated.