Namibia battles cattle disease outbreak as EU suspends several meat imports

A significant story is unfolding on the international scene. Foot-and-mouth disease threatens livestock farmers’ livelihoods and disrupts meat supplies as authorities impose curbs. Windhoek, Namibia – “We had to close the market for several days. It was just before the weekend and month’s end.

That’s when we need the money the most,” says Francisco, a vendor at Single Quarter, Windhoek’s largest open meat market. He pours vinegar and cooking oil into a tomato and onion salsa, a traditional accompaniment to kapana, a popular grilled-meat street food. Around him, many stalls and grilling stations sit empty.

The Details

Instead of the crowds that typically fill the market during business hours, only a handful of customers move between the stalls. Recent closures and concerns about meat supplies have disrupted business. “Our business is slow.

We are struggling to buy meat, but without it, we cannot survive,” says another kapana vendor, who asked to remain anonymous. “This is our livelihood. The meat is much more expensive now, so we are making less money altogether.

If this continues for three months, it is going to be very bad for us. ” In Katutura, Windhoek’s largest township, uncertainty over beef supplies is adding to residents’ financial concerns. “If we don’t eat meat, what are we going to eat?

What Experts Say

We are Namibians,” one resident says, describing meat as a staple of the local diet. Another worries about rising prices and the wider consequences for Namibia, where livestock exports are an important part of the economy. At a supermarket in the Okuryangava suburb, the butchery has already run out of some premium beef products.

Store manager Enrico De Azevedo, 23, says consumer behaviour has also contributed to the pressure. “We saw people panic-buying like they did during the COVID-19 pandemic with toilet paper. Now, they can go and stack their meat next to their toilet paper,” he says.

De Azevedo also recognises the wider economic risks. “For those in the export business, this will have grave implications.

The development has drawn wide international attention, with diplomatic circles watching closely.