Following Namibia’s eligibility to export meat and meat products to the United States of America in 2016, the southern African country has commenced the exportation of red meat to Philadelphia, USA, starting with 25 tones. This makes it the first African country to export meat products to the North American country.

The African country, which has an ancient culture of breeding commercial cattle’s naturally and reputation of hormone-free livestock is set to export 860 tonnes of various beef cuts ( primal cuts, chuck, blade, and beef trimmings) this year to the United States, with plans of rising to 5,000 tonnes by 2025.

In 2016, the U.S. Food Safety and Inspection Service concluded that Namibia’s meat inspection and evaluation system was even with the United States’ system of the products.

Currently, the United States tops the global list of red meat consumption per head. Americans consume an average of 120 kgs of meat per person, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), this makes meat exports to the country a very lucrative deal.

Namibia has a huge potential of tapping from this international market by relying on the quality of its locally grown cattle, which may be preferable compared to cattle that are grazed in North America. Also, Namibia’s minister of international relations, Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah believes that the demand for meat by fast-food chains and steak restaurants in America can make Namibia a huge player in meat supply to the USA in the long run.

Furthermore, Namibia can also capitalize on a duty-free regime under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) to access America’s food market, which has a consistent demand for meat as opposed to its neighbouring nations in the south of Africa with lower currencies value compared to the united stated dollar-USD.

‘’We’re able to finally export meat to the lucrative and big U.S. market,” said Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah. 

It is important to note that this is not the first international meat deal the country is securing. In 2019, Namibia exported about 12,400 metric tonnes of meat to Norway, Britain, the European Union, and even China. The addition of North America’s largest economy may strengthen the potential of making the country a destination for quality meat in the world.

Meanwhile, the U.S. ambassador to Namibia, Lisa Johnson, said ‘’American consumers will benefit from access to Namibia’s high-quality, free-range, grass-fed beef.’’ Perhaps this may help in mitigating health issues like cancer and obesity due to the low quality of food in the US.