The Sunday News
Mhlupheki Dube
ONE component of the livestock value chain, which is very important but often misunderstood by farmers, is the marketing section. This is a very important segment of the value chain.
We may not be able to rank the different segments of the livestock value chain or any value chain for that matter in terms of which one is the most and the least important because each and every section plays an important part and the chain will either completely fail to function or will poorly perform when any of the segments fails.
Take for instance the production stage in any value chain, if this is poorly performed, so are the rest of the segments of the value chain.
However, this week I wish to dwell on the marketing component of the livestock value chain. This is the component which I think is failing most smallholder livestock producers.
In basic terms a market for any product has to be accessible, reliable, consistent and competitive. Sadly these attributes are not found in most of the markets that are available to smallholder livestock producers in the communal areas.
The markets are neither accessible nor competitive let alone consistent. If we remind ourselves that close to 90 percent of the national livestock herd is held by smallholder farmers we then find the glaring disconnect and irony that this is the same section of the farming population that is poorly serviced. So we have 90 percent of our livestock being produced by farmers who have no idea where they will sell the product and when they can sell. Their market is not regular, it is not competitive, in fact, it is nothing more than an accident of events.
The only regular and reliable markets are in the urban centres mostly to the abattoirs and meat wholesalers. These are the ultimate buyers of cattle who would have to come through efforts of the middlemen from the different corners of the rural communities. The important question therefore is how can we make livestock markets to be accessible to the smallholder farmers? What needs to be done to make these markets reliable, consistent and competitive? My feeling is that perhaps we need to migrate from the mandate of organising livestock markets from local authorities to the Agriculture Ministry or departments.
It is my contention that the current situation where the local authority just comes in with an extractive role of levying and taxing is not helping at all. I am aware that they are entitled by the Act that governs local authorities to collect livestock levies and am not about to quarrel with that. However, my feeling is that the role of organising and facilitating livestock markets should be given to the department or ministry that deals with that value chain from the production stage.
A department like Agritex should have its mandate broadened from extension services on production to include the livestock markets and marketing. Such that it should be part of the key result area for an extension officer to ensure that in addition to the farmer adopting good agricultural practices, he/ she is managing to access a competitive market for his/ her livestock. While most of us who are familiar and are informed on the ins and outs of livestock markets and marketing may take it for granted the same level of information is not easily available to farmers at ground zero.
I have worked with smallholder farmers at district level, helping them to polish their animals and access the apex markets and the differences in what they pocket in comparison to selling to local runners is ground breaking for most farmers.
One old lady in Bubi District remarked that she would have sold four animals to local runners to get what she got from her single animal after selling to one abattoir. The point is this unavailability of markets and farm gate level for most smallholder farmers exposes farmers to economic vultures and sadly in some areas Government extension officers in the form of Agritex and Vet officers are the middlemen vultures.
Instead of organising better markets for the farmers (which is currently not their mandate) they become the conduit market. Buying from farmers for a song and selling to abattoirs for a massive profit.
It is really sad and unfortunate that the guy who produces the product in the majority of cases has absolutely no clue about the markets beyond a local runner who is nothing more than a conduit to the main market.
Thus it is my submission that Agritex should be tasked with the mandate to organise competitive and regular markets for smallholder livestock farmers such that when an extension officer trains livestock farmers he/ she becomes the starting point up to the end of the value chain.
Uyabonga umntakaMaKhumalo.
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