Assistant Minister of Lands and Agriculture, Motsamai Motsamai, has informed parliament that Botswana Meat Commission (BMC) has settled cattle farmers in Ngamiland Region, having paid them P8.4 million last month.
The revelation came after MP for Maun West, Carter Hikuama, asked the ministry to state specific administrative, operational, or financial constraints that have led to extended delay in disbursing payments to farmers; the exact date by which the BMC will fully settle all outstanding funds owed to the farmers; and measures being taken to establish a reliable payment cushion that prevents recurrent cashflow disruptions for rural livestock producers:
Motsamai informed parliament that since the Direct Cattle Purchase (DCP) programme launched in Ngamiland in October 2025, BMC did not have challenges in paying farmers as promised.
“Issues that were generally encountered were instances where farmers could not provide banking accounts when they sold their cattle, making it difficult for the BMC to pay them timeously when funds were availed” he said.
“However, in the buying schedule of the month of May-June 2026, BMC bought more than 2500 cattle which was beyond their target of 1000 cattle.”
Motsamai said the BMC Lobatse had pledged to fully fund the scheduled buying due to the Maun Plant’s financial position at the time, however, because of the FMD outbreak, he revealed that the financial assistance that was pledged to Maun Plant was not executed as promised which affected the payment turn-around to farmers.
According to Motsamai, BMC paid P8.4 million to farmers on October 9, 2026.
“This final settlement also include the balances that were previously on hold because those farmers had not yet provided their banking details.”
Motsamai further told parliament that due to the ongoing FMD outbreak, financing opportunities for farmer payments are currently slimmer.
He said this is to be expected, as lenders naturally assess associated FMD risks before making financial commitments.
“BMC—particularly Lobatse abattoir—previously relied on a financier paying farmers directly, enabling quick payment turn-arounds. We expected to replicate this for the Maun abattoir,” Motsamai said.
“EU exports are affected by the FMD outbreak in zones 11 and 13, we are actively exploring alternative markets, including Angola, Ghana, DRC, and Qatar. Once confirmed, these markets will normalize farmer payments and revive the cattle and beef trade, though a full recovery will take time.”
