Declining national herd worries Boko amid export push
Larona Makhaiza | Monday July 14, 2025 09:44
The push to move to diamonds comes after Botswana’s diamond sector has taken a nosedive , leading to a drop in the country’s national output otherwise known as the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
However, to turn the tide around, the government is banking on the beef sector to improve the limping economy. Recently, government ratified deals to penetrate the international market with export deals to China and the Democratic Republic of Congo providing the country with a glimmer of hope that things might change for the better.
However, a few months after the deals were signed , Boko during a public address recently , said Botswana is facing an impending crisis with a declining cattle herd.
“When I arrived back from Malawi, I couldn't even sleep as I was told that our herd of cattle used to be 3 million and it's now at 1.7 million, which is worrisome. On Monday, I was told that they are now 1.1 million,” Boko revealed.
The President also said the figures that have been put before him are bitter to swallow as they threaten to lower economic diversification into exporting beef.
“These numbers show that this is a crisis. This means if this continues in three years, we will be forced to buy beef outside as we won't have it. This is a challenge that we have currently,” Boko sounded the horn.
Furthermore, Boko said this is a point and a time that the country should come together to increase the national herd of cattle, as this is another looming crisis on top of other challenges the country is engulfed in.
“We should come up with strategies to solve this challenge on top of other challenges that we have. I have already engaged experts to deal with this issue and see how best we can deal with this,” Boko said.
From the engagement with the experts in the beef sector, the President said he will soon launch an initiative aimed at bolstering the sector and nip the mushrooming challenge in the bud.
“I will not only launch these houses but I will reveal a new strategy that will solve this challenge we have on ourselves and increase our national herd cattle from three million to five million, which is a target I have set for myself,” Boko set his targets.
Though he set an ambitious target for his government, Boko admitted that the government cannot do it by itself. People need to come on board and help with seeing this imminent problem through.
“This means that all of us should work hard and we should all work together because this can help change our lives for the better,” he said.
A 2017 annual agriculture survey report released by Statistics Botswana in 2021 indicated that cattle population dropped from 1.3 million in 2015 to 1.1million in 2017 due to an increase in cattle lost due to stray as well as stock theft Climate change has been identified as a major factor in the decline of the cattle population in Botswana. Farmers have since been advised to adopt methods such as Artificial Insemination (AI) which can help to increase livestock production and improve livestock breeds.
The government has previously revealed that the beef cattle population had decreased from over three million in 1979 to only 1.7 million in 2020. The great decline, which now worries Boko, seeks to erase the prestige the country has enjoyed from being a quality producer of beef meat to the international markets. The previous regime's acquisition of elite cattle breeds from the US and Australia in the past sparked controversial debates. Former President Mokgweetsi Masisi argued that his purchase was meant to improve the national herd and its genetic merit. He argued that the government invested in the procurement of breeding cattle for semen and embryo production.