The current application to register the words Karoo Lamb as a Geographical Indication (GI) has certainly stirred up controversy.

A number of pertinent questions have been asked of the applicants and, rather than answer them in a dignified and scientific manner, they have resorted to attacking the motives, ethics and integrity of those who wish to challenge this process or question its day-to-day practicalities (in the interest of the greater Karoo community).

They then try to bamboozle with a flim-flam of pyrotechnic wordplay along the lines of, “This new application was made according to the prescripts of the new regulations related to the registration of GIs in South Africa which was recently published in the Government Gazette of 22 March 2019”, and similar legalese.

This unfortunately smacks of the sort of tactics employed by our red-shirted politicians when pushed into a VBS corner by a nosy journalist.

As Johann Rupert is reported to have said, presumably from bitter experience: “Never pick a fight with a person who has a barrel of ink at their disposal.”

While I am not going to lower myself to personal attacks or involve myself in ego wars on the matter, I do think it critical that the people and particularly the farmers of the Karoo have a fair and equitable opportunity to ask questions about this pending application and its practicalities before it is (potentially) bulldozed through on 2 September 2019.

It will, after all, have a direct impact on their lives and livelihoods if it is approved.

As an actual resident of the Karoo and someone who lives intimately as a part of it, I see and experience the day-to-day runnings and hardships of Karoo farms. Believe me when I tell you that the idyllic pictures you see in the pages of Country Life, of children running through fields and farmers kicking back and enjoying a coffee on their stoeps are, mostly, but a pale reflection of what actually happens on a working Karoo farm.

Life is tough.

These are good-natured, hospitable, salt-of-the-earth people. These are also among the most hard-working and tenacious people you will ever meet. These are also among the most maligned, misunderstood and under-appreciated people around.

The biggest mistake that anyone can make when traversing the Karoo is to underestimate these people. These people of the land. These farmers. They have been here long before you came and they will be here long after you go.

Remember that and then start by trying to appreciate that without those farmers, you probably would not have a meal today, or tomorrow…

These people also tend to be a lot more intelligent and learned than you might think, with a knowledge and worldly wisdom that only comes from generations of working with the African soil.

In short: though they may seem a little backward yet kindly, you underestimate them at your peril. Don’t mess with them. If you don’t believe me just ask the likes of Shell oil, the Uranium miners and the pro-fracking brigade.

Now, let’s be clear on one thing: I am not against the concept of a Geographical Indication (GI). In fact, I have been a proponent of the idea for well over a decade and was involved from the very beginning in trying to give the Karoo this international recognition it deserves.

The application to register Karoo Lamb as an intellectual property (IP) right belonging to the region is laudable. What I am against, however, is the manner in which it is being done.

The fact that farmers and interested parties were given only 17 working days to study this application and then lodge “scientifically based” objections to this application is ridiculous.

(The email from the Department of Agriculture and Forestry was only sent on 7 August 2019 with the final date of submissions of objections 2 Sept 2019 – effectively 17 working days)

The fact that only seven people were emailed the notice of the application is concerning in the extreme. (Not one of which was an actual Karoo farmer.)

The fact that anyone who has dared spread the word about this application to the affected farmers or questions this processes or the application details is attacked publicly, their ethics and integrity challenged and are essentially labelled as a fraud, a crook and anti-Karoo, is laughable.

Unfortunately, I subscribe to the duck test as a form of abductive reasoning: If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then it probably is a duck.

And, as it stands, this looks like a classic railroad job if ever there was one.

I hope I am wrong, boy do I. And if I am, I’ll be the first to admit it and offer all the apologies to anyone offended. As this can, potentially, be a game-changer for the Karoo farmers and its people. Provided it is done right and with the full buy-in of the all the sheep farmers of the Karoo, not just a few in the far Northern Cape, as it currently stands.

Why were there no roadshows, or genuine attempts at engagement with farmers across the region? Why was the information of this application not made freely available to all the farmers’ associations across the Karoo, for dissemination and discussion among its members, for information and feedback?

Why the carrot-and-stick approach? Why no attempt to win over the hearts and minds of the Karoo farmers through genuine interaction and involvement in this process? As opposed to threats and bully tactics?

There are some fundamental and practical issues that need to be addressed before this application can pass muster:

As it stands, if this thing is approved after 2 September, due to the simple fact that there is not a single “approved” abattoir east of Carnarvon in the Northern Cape (as per the applications requirements), “Carcasses is sourced by retailer/butcher from a listed abattoir or processor” – (sic)

The application also states that “animals should not be transported for more than 250 kilometres to an abattoir”. This is all fine and well if there are suitable and approved facilities well-spaced within the affected areas, but there aren’t.

So even if they wanted to participate in this GI listing, not a single farmer from more than half the proposed region could, as there are only three abattoirs approved and registered, in compliance to this protocol, in the whole of South Africa. In Williston, Calvinia and Carnarvon, all in the Northern Cape.

Just these two criteria, noble though they may seem, will effectively cut out more than half of Karoo farmers by default and by factors out of their control.

Another issue not addressed adequately in the application is that of what to do in times of drought.

As the application currently stands and when supplementary feeding is required, “When used, these feeds may be allowed to a maximum of 30% of the animal’s total daily intake. This implies that animals should still obtain at least 70% of their food intake from the natural veld.”

This is all fine and well, but as the Karoo is currently enduring one of the worst droughts in living memory, animals have to be given the bulk of their sustenance as supplementary feeding, or they will die.

It is not realistic or practical to assume they can gain 70% of their diet from the veld, as, in many cases, there is none…

So do you let your livestock and livelihood die, or what you do?

These issues would have been picked up, had a proper interaction with the affected farmers and communities been undertaken. This is clearly not the case.

There are many other issues that need to be addressed before this application is approved. By the communities it will most affect.

So my plea to the Karoo Development Foundation (KDF) and Meat of Origin Karoo (MOOK) is this: If you are determined to follow through with this application (which I really hope you are), please allow sufficient time for objections, engagement and buy-in from all the farmers to be affected, not just a few.

Take any critique and objections with the humility and respect that they deserve and try to listen to and work with the farmers you claim to and hope to represent, to the entire Karoo’s benefit.

Without their full buy-in, this duck is dead in the water from the very start. DM