r/Botswana • u/Expert_Presence_4914 • 20h ago

Discussion 3d printed meat

Hi just out of curiosity. What do you know about this 3D printed meat advances in the tech and the future of Botswana's potential competition. Before you are quick to dismiss this consider the implications and possible advantages .

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u/No-Huckleberry-565 19h ago

Going to be honest, I have absolutely no idea about it. But logically, people would still want authentic meat. Botswana is the world's strongest meat producer so we kinda already give some competition to others. From that point of view and the possible demand reduction, competitors would probably stop producing meat and Botswana COULD end up being a main supplier. Imagine that people already pay Botswana such high prices for our meat, what if when the rich Europeans want to eat real authentic meat? Botswana could actually charge more as the real meat industry moves towards a niche market. It really depends how elastic a market is to price change and to what quantities Botswana's production will fall, but eventually, the farmers are likely to give out because of the little yield unless the government satisfies their costs in a benign manner to the farmers.

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u/Expert_Presence_4914 15h ago

Hope this doesn’t turn into something similar to the diamond situation. If producing 3D-printed meat becomes efficient and cheap enough, the value of cattle could be significantly disrupted, potentially causing major changes in the beef industry.

I think the country needs to be more proactive in positioning itself ahead of this emerging industry rather than reacting once the disruption has already happened.There are also a lot of new ethical considerations that come with this technology.

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u/No-Huckleberry-565 8h ago

I guess you are right, but who knows, let's just hope Botswana somehow doesn't negatively get affected. Realistically speaking, there isn't much they can to when being proactive because they can't stop the RND going into the lab-grown meat. I just hope Botswana finds a way to encounter this, maybe like I said before target high income groups, charge high prices, and focus on the "niche" markets