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The European Union (EU) has suspended imports of fresh beef, sheep and goat meat and of biltong from Namibia after an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease, the EU said on 5 October. The outbreak hit a commercial farm in the southern Karasburg veterinary district, and the World Organisation for Animal Health suspended the zone's disease-free status from 22 September. Heat-treated meat can still enter the EU, and Namibia's trade preferences under its partnership agreement with the EU are unaffected. The EU is a premium market for Namibian beef, so a long suspension would cut export earnings and farm incomes. Containing the outbreak quickly is Namibia's route back to the market.
Cocoa farmers in Côte d'Ivoire, the world's largest producer, fear the main harvest will end early after another dry week, Reuters reported on 5 October. No rain fell in Soubré in the west, 22 millimetres below the five-year average, and Daloa received 3.4 millimetres, 25.7 below average; the south and east were also dry. Industry sources expect the main crop to fall to about 1.25 million tonnes from 1.5 million last season, blaming drought linked to El Niño and less use of fertiliser. A smaller crop would support world cocoa prices, but farmers paid a fixed 1,200 CFA francs a kilo, down from 2,800, would gain little from it.
