Introduction
The agricultural sector is central to the lives of the majority of Namibia’s population. Directly or indirectly, it supports over 70% of the population*. Applying farming standardsthat include traceability, quality, and high levels of animal welfareis helping to increase the incomes of producers, processors and others employed in thelivestock sectorand associated services by enabling access to export markets. Namibia’s meat industry is now strongly export-oriented. In terms of value, meat exports represent 3% of all national exports and are a vital component of the agricultural sector, so meeting the requirements of the new markets in terms of animal welfare, quality and traceability is crucial. The standards encourage good practice by covering aspects of:
- farm management
- environmental stewardship
- animal welfare
- animal health
- pasture and feed
- identification and traceability
- record-keeping.
The Opportunity
Just think, Namibia has about 2.3 million cattle, 2 million sheep and 2 million goats*, but not all of them are raised in disease-free areas and therefore not everyone is able to meet export standards. University and Schools, in particular, have a key role in forming next generations farmers, researchers, entrepreneurs, scientists and industrialists.
The Feedlot Challenge
The University of Namibiahas made the Feedlot Challengean annual event and the first competition will start the first semester of 2019. The greater purpose is to encouraging students to compete to try and obtain the best productivity out of a cattle feedlot. This event involves all third-year student classes from the School of Veterinary Medicine and the Department of Animal Science, Food Science and, Agricultural Economics of the University of Namibia.During the challenge, the 60 students, divided into groups, are responsible for the entire feedlot system. The main task is to manage feedlot cattlewhich includes processing and selecting animals, financial and logistical planning, coordination, feeding, complete health care, keeping meticulous records, planning a marketing strategy and many other activities. We encourage participants in achieving their goals with our precision livestock farming applications. In particular, we offer access to our Farm Management tooland priority assistance. We’re really proud that Farm4Trade has been chosen as the main sponsor for this challenge at University of Namibia. The sponsorship of the "UNAM's First Annual Feedlot Challenge"is part of Farm4Trade's international cooperation activitiessupported and co-financed by the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS)- Ministry of Foreign Affairs - Italy References: *www.fao.org ** www.oie.int
