African Capacity Building for Meat Exports : Lessons from the Namibian and Botswanan Beef Industries

Developed countries' sanitary standards are not a guise for protectionism. On the contrary, they represent the rational behaviors of governments that respond to the demands of their polities for food safety. Thus, animal producers, whether in Africa or elsewhere, that want to export to developed markets have no way of circumventing the sanitary regulations. Countries must meet relevant international and developed-country standards in order to exploit their comparative advantage in livestock and meat production. Compliance with high food standards is costly. We contend, however, that this cost is not insurmountable, nor does it necessarily trump a country's comparative advantage. As evidence, we offer two examples from southern Africa: Namibia and Botswana