Can trade preferences stimulate sectoral development? The case of Namibian and Botswanan beef exports to Norway

Namibia and Botswana each hold over two million head of cattle, and where small-scale, communal production is an important livelihood for the majority of farmers engaged in livestock. An important tension in each country has been balancing the livelihood demands of predominately smallholder-oriented systems on the one hand with the regulations and investments needed to facilitate and preserve market access for exports on the other. While both countries have made many significant investments in biosecurity to access lucrative markets in the European Union and Norway, the preferential trade arrangements that facilitate exports are controversial. In particular, the use of quotas has politicized the beef trade in both supplying and end markets. This has led to questions in various quarters as to whether such quotas sufficiently regulate and manage trade to meet both developmental objectives on the one hand and Norwegian desire to limit certain imports on the other.