Hi-tech BVI lab to boost EU exports

MBONGENI MGUNI
Staff Writer | Friday November 26, 2010 00:00

 

The new FMD lab, due to be commissioned next Friday, will be capable of producing about 24 million doses of FMD vaccine annually, twice the current capacity. More importantly for beef exports, the new lab will produce purified vaccines which will enable farmers to distinguish between FMD-vaccinated and -infected animals after a round of vaccinations.

As part of its FMD control, government has previously culled cattle within a breakout zone, as the vaccines employed did not allow veterinarians to distinguish between vaccinated and infected animals. As a result, the EU does not accept beef exports from FMD-vaccinated areas, a policy that has hurt Botswana's beef industry in recent years. Culling and restocking has therefore been used to comprehensively stamp out FMD outbreaks and satisfy the EU's stringent import criteria. However, this option is unpopular with farmers as levels of compensation are contentious; the option also leads to food security issues as most farmers prefer cash compensation rather than restocking, which could be prone to future FMD outbreaks. On Wednesday, BVI General Manager, Onkabetse Matlho said the new lab -- the first of its kind in Africa -- would enhance the country's competitiveness in EU beef exports. Botswana is the BVI's main market for FMD vaccines, followed by Zambia, Zimbabwe and Mozambique.'We are vaccinating the red zone in Ngamiland but the meat cannot be sold to the EU. With the new vaccine, we can go in and vaccinate all the animals and be able to test and see which ones are sick,' he said.

'The new vaccine is an assurance for the EU that if FMD breaks out and we vaccinate and remove the cattle, we will be back to the EU status quickly. The new lab will have a purification step and we had to expand the space available to accommodate this process.

'After producing the vaccine, we purify it; which removes the non-structural proteins.' The removal of non-structural proteins enables veterinaries to distinguish infected from vaccinated animals and reduces the need for mass culling of animals in FMD break out areas.

'The aim is to stop destroying whenever there's FMD, but that's a government decision. However, the Ministry of Agriculture's mandate is for food security and we are the insurance for it. There are five strains of FMD in our region, but we are manufacturing vaccines for seven of them which makes us more competitive.' Matlho explained that the new purified vaccine can also be super-concentrated and stored for five years, enabling customers, such as government, to flexibly purchase whenever the need arises. The current vaccine can only be stored for two years. The BVI's new lab is the result of a three-year project, funded through debt and equity and designed by the Institute's French technical partner, Merial. Since establishment, BVI and Merial's technical agreement has included technology advancements.

'We review the agreement that was signed in 1978 which states there will be continuous technological transfer. Merial gave us the technology, then upgraded it at some point and the latest upgrade is part of that,' said the BVI General Manager. For the project, P120 million was raised through bonds, P15 million through debt finance and P50 million through Botswana Development Corporation preference shares.