Foot-and-mouth disease: EU suspends Namibian fresh meat, 400 Meatco employees on leave

The European Union suspended the entry of certain Namibian fresh meats into its territory on October 5, 2026, following the confirmation of a foot-and-mouth disease outbreak in the south of the country, reports Al Jazeera. The decision hits an export sector built over decades on the reputation of a disease-free herd.

From Karasburg to Kalala Island

On September 23, Namibian veterinary services confirmed an outbreak at a commercial farm in the Karasburg district, in the //Kharas region, on the South African border. On October 5, President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah reported 127 positive cases across fifteen farms, following the inspection of 29,313 animals on 68 farms, with twenty surveillance teams and ten roadblocks deployed. The Ministry of Agriculture's toll rose on October 6 to 129 positive samples and seventeen infected farms. On October 7, a second region was affected: the disease was confirmed in cattle on Kalala Island, in the Kabbe constituency, Zambezi region, at the other end of the country, where all twelve samples taken returned positive.

Brussels closes the door to the NA-1 zone

The European suspension targets fresh meat from cattle, sheep, goats, and other cloven-hoofed animals from the previously authorized NA-1 export zone, as well as certain processed products such as biltong and jerky. This is not a total embargo: products that have undergone the prescribed sanitization treatment remain permitted, and a 90-day transition period covers shipments certified by Namibian authorities before September 23.

Farmers and kapana sellers take the hit

Meatco has placed approximately 400 production employees on three weeks of paid special leave, with a review scheduled for October 23, and paid 31 million Namibian dollars (about 1.8 million US dollars) to farmers for cattle delivered to its Windhoek abattoir between August 29 and September 11. At the Single Quarter market, kapana sellers describe more expensive meat, falling sales, and half-empty stalls. For the Namibia Agricultural Union, Marianne Pretorius supports "painful but necessary" restrictions and warns that prices will remain under pressure as long as export markets do not reopen, requesting that their reopening receive as much attention as the fight against the virus. Farmer Gert Engelbrecht, based in Aranos, says he is working with veterinarians to regain the country's disease-free status.

Windhoek has notified the World Organisation for Animal Health, launched emergency vaccinations, suspended animal movements, auctions, and informal slaughter in the Zambezi region, and began construction of a veterinary fence along the Orange River in October. A question of economic sovereignty remains: the value of Namibian livestock is currently decided by sanitary standards written elsewhere.