Zambezi farmers demonstrate over ZAMCO abattoir closure

KATIMA MULILO – The ‘Progressive Farmers’ of the Zambezi region staged a peaceful demonstration on Friday, seeking urgent intervention on the continued closure of the Katima Mulilo Abbatoir, which they claim has disrupted the region’s formal livestock market.

The farmers marched from the Katima Mulilo open market to the Zambezi Regional Council to hand over a petition, demanding the intervention of the Office of the Prime Minister; the Minister of Agriculture, Water and Land Reform; the Zambezi Governor; and the Livestock and Livestock Products Board of Namibia.

In their petition read by Hilda Sezuni, the farmers said: “The closure of this critical facility has reached a point where the livelihoods of hundreds of livestock farmers, their employees, households, and businesses throughout the livestock value chain are facing severe economic hardship.”