Commercial farmers appeal for assistance

17 Jan, 2016 - 00:01 0 Views
Commercial farmers appeal for assistance

The Sunday News

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Dumisani Nsingo, Senior Farming Reporter
MATABELELAND South commercial livestock farmers met last week to craft a comprehensive document to be forwarded to Government detailing challenges that they are facing in the wake of the drought.

Speaking at a hastily arranged stakeholders meeting on Tuesday, one of the farmers Retired Brigadier-General Levi Mayihlome of Umzingwane District said there was need for Government to take into consideration that commercial livestock producers played a pivotal role in the country’s beef industry hence the need to seek ways to assist the farmers.

He said the Government and a number of non-governmental organisations had over the years channelled assistance towards communal livestock farmers overlooking commercial farmers while in essence the latter contributed more on the market than the former most of whom keep their cattle for sentimental purposes.

“With the impeding calamity due to drought we are concerned that we stand to suffer unbearable losses. We intend to find out what programmes the Government is coming up with in light of this.

“As for the commercial herd there is nothing visible and we think it’s about time we gather as stakeholders to come up with a comprehensive document to present to Government,” Rtd Brig-Gen Mayihlome said.

He said commercial livestock farmers were also facing the problem of depleting water sources and failure to procure sufficient stockfeed as financial institutions are hesitant to fund their agricultural enterprises.

“It is unwise for us to destock because immediately after the drought the country will need a commercial herd.

“There is also need for Government to come up with a price support scheme for cattle rather than allowing the market forces to determine the price as this will see prices of animals dropping to appalling levels, affecting the viability of the sector,” Rtd Brig-Gen Mayihlome said.

He said although Government has a National Policy on Drought Management “it doesn’t go to specifics on how to alleviate livestock issues and analysts have said it’s more of an immaterial document.”

Another farmer Mr Mncebisi Ndlovu of Caman Brahman in Esigodini said most of the grazing land in his area was destroyed by illegal gold panners who are in the habit of starting veld fires to clear the land to enable their metal detectors to easily sense gold ore beneath the ground.

“I am from Esigodini in Umzingwane District. The problems, which we are facing in rearing our livestock is that most of the boreholes and dams in the area have since dried up.

“The area is also a gold mining area and most of the time gold panners start veld fires and as we speak 90 percent of the grazing land was burnt due to their activities.

“We also experienced disease outbreaks such as anthrax and FMD and to add to our woes is the banning of the largest cattle auction sale, which is conducted by CC Sales at the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair grounds and as a result of this farmers are getting uncompetitive prices at district sales,” Mr Ndlovu said.

Bulawayo Agricultural Society beef chairperson Mr Obert Chinhamo said the Government should channel most of its funds towards saving the country’s cattle herd from drought and devastative diseases than exhausting most of its funds in trying to curbing Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD).

“The biggest problem is that people are talking more about FMD but I have never heard of any animal and anyone dying from the disease and as such we are having cattle being taken from producers by abattoirs for a song because the abattoirs are now determining the price.

“We can’t talk of exports because the last exports we made were in 2001 and we won’t be doing so maybe in the next 10 years or so. So why should we be worried about FMD? The Government should seek ways of averting diseases such as heart water and anthrax which have a negative impact on the national herd,” Mr Chinhamo said.

A report by the Matabeleland South’s Department of Livestock Production and Development (DLPD) as of 7 January reveals that 452 cattle have died due to the effects of drought while water levels at most major dams in districts are below 50 percent.

According to the report, Gwanda District had 63 reported cases of poverty deaths and the water level of its major dams is 30 percent full, Beitbridge had recorded 16 cases and its major dam, Zhobe is 40 percent full, Umzingwane has seven cases and its major dams are 28 percent full, Matobo had 170 recorded deaths and its major dams are 40 percent full.

Mangwe had 26 cases of poverty deaths with its major dams being 50 percent full, Bulilima has 124 reported cases of poverty deaths while its major dams are 40 percent full and Insiza had 46 cases of poverty deaths recorded so far with its major dams being 30 percent full.

“What you should bear in mind is that not all cases are reported so the number of cattle lost due to poverty might be more. In Beitbridge the cases have been low largely due to the fact that communal farmers in that area have formed stockfeed committees.

“The veld situation is deteriorating at an alarming rate. In all districts the veld situation is fair to poor while browse is still good. The water situation is poor as most animals walk for more than five kilometres to the water source.

“Most of the animals depend on major dams and boreholes,” said DLPD Matabeleland South provincial livestock specialist Mrs Simangaliphi Ngwabi, who was also present at the meeting.

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