Government moves in to curb livestock deaths

THE Government through the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development has moved with speed to partner with livestock sector players to provide stock feed and drill boreholes as part of measures to mitigate climate change-induced livestock deaths.

In the past three months, close to 3 000 head of cattle have died largely owing to a shortage of water as most drinking points are dry.

Bulilima district has 86 662 cattle, 88 027 goats, 7 241 sheep, 359 pigs and 92 094 poultry.

The causes of the deaths are due to lack of water where dams are now becoming death traps due to huge volumes of mud and sharing of water sources with humans with livestock feeling the heat.

In some areas, there are boreholes designated for livestock use but they are in bad condition and need to be rehabilitated.

Giving an update on livestock deaths in the province, acting Matabeleland South provincial director of the Agricultural Rural Development and Advisory Services, Mr Mkhunjulelwa Ndlovu said Bulilima has been the hardest hit district.

“Within three months we have lost about 2 960 cattle, with Bulilima being the highest in terms of poverty deaths with 1 640. The major challenge is shortage of water. Most dams, the seasonal and annual ones in Bulilima have dried up.

“The few remaining have a lot of mud due to high siltation levels leading to animals being trapped. We have encouraged farmers to take action and drive animals to watering points which are not muddy,” said Mr Ndlovu.

He added: “Another major challenge observed is the absence of cattle owners in the district, most are in the diaspora, especially in South Africa. The herd boys have little care for the livestock and once the cattle are stuck for more than five hours in muddy places, they cannot sustain the challenges faced,” said Mr Ndlovu.

To mitigate the deaths, Mr Ndlovu indicated that engagements with stakeholders are ongoing.

“We are engaging all stakeholders, all value chain players within the beef industry to assist in reducing the number of deaths. Farmers are advised to take care of their animals and treat the field as a business entity. As a ministry, we have engaged several partners. For instance, in Matobo, we have a partner who provides stock feed, assisting in the drilling of boreholes and that’s a positive move.

“However, in other areas, we have a challenge with the water system, the aquifer is dry but we have made efforts to drill boreholes.” The province has set an ambitious target to increase its livestock herd to 1,2 million by 2025 from about 600 000 in 2021 as part of efforts to grow its economy and contribute to national food and nutrition security.

According to the reviewed economic development plan for the period 2021-2025, the province seeks to boost livestock production by about 20 percent per annum over the five-year strategic period from 624 970 cattle in 2021 to an estimated 1 249 940 by 2025.

Matabeleland South is pushing to increase the area under citrus production from 2 671ha to 4 000ha and maize hectarage from 80 000ha to 115 000ha.

The province is also targeting to increase the production of traditional grains from 37 000ha to above 70 000ha.

This would also be buttressed by scaling up irrigation production from 4 500ha, which was recorded in 2021 to about 10 000ha in 2025.

In line with the National Development Strategy (NDS1), Matabeleland South is already working on improving animal nutrition through programmes such as the establishment of green belts for fodder and hay baling, which is targeting 300 000 bales annually.-chronicle