Namibia imported a total of 4.9 million kilograms of livestock and meat products year to date (YTD), 0.9% lower when compared to the same period last year, research firm Simonis Storm has said.
YTD, 75% of imports are pork products, while in 2022 it only consisted of 58% of total imports.
“Namibia is reliant on pork imports, which remains a risk to food security and input costs for meat processors. With the current ongoing Foot and Mouth Disease in South Africa, Namibia is forced to import from Europe at higher costs, passing the costs onto consumers. Indeed, pork inflation for July came in at 21.1% y/y, and YTD average is 18.8%,” the firm said in a report released today.
Similarly, canned meat inflation recorded 12.8% y/y rate in July 2023, which carries the second largest weight in our meat import basket of 18%.