The Sunday News
Farming Issues Mhlupheki Dube
AN appraisal of the livestock industry in Zimbabwe exposes policy gaps that need to be plugged if this important sector is to move to greater heights. This sector is bedevilled by a myriad of challenges from production to marketing. At production level the major challenge which is gladly being addressed as we speak is the inadequacy of livestock production extension personnel.
The obtaining situation is that some districts with about 32 wards have one Livestock Production Department (LPD) extension officer and in other districts there are three or four officers for the whole district and these do not have even the simplest mode of transport such as a bike.
Obviously such a scenario is at worst pathetic and at best a joke if we are serious about providing quality extension services to livestock farmers. However this is being addressed by the current Government restructuring exercise of the Department of Agricultural Technical and Extension Services (Agritex). This will certainly see a marked improvement in the number of LPD officers on the ground as some personnel from Agritex is shifted to LPD.
It is a recorded fact that 90 percent of the national herd of cattle for example is within the communal areas and these are the farmers that need continuous training of the modern production practices.
Other areas of livestock production which we have touched in this very platform include the marketing side of things specifically the issue of punitive rural district council (RDC) levies, unfair prices by buyers.
We have districts such as Nkayi for example with probably the worst quality of cattle within Matabeleland North Province but charging the highest cattle levy.
In terms of prices we have lamented in this very column that beef prices describe a known curve throughout the year but the drop in prices is never passed on to consumers but only the increase is generously passed on to the consumers.
There is also the issue of multiple levies and licensing fees charged on players such as those operating abattoirs.
This double if not triple dipping in licence fees makes the Zimbabwean beef value chain to be the most expensive in the sub-Saharan region. Then we have the current Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) challenge whose telling effect on the prices is there for all to see and sadly the corrective action seems unimpressive. To cap it all we then have the unmitigated death and decay of the Cold Storage Company.
The above recap of the misery afflicting the livestock industry is meant to lay a foundation for the justification of the need for establishing a government body responsibly for livestock policy issues.
Cotton and tobacco farmers have respective boards whose mandate is to look at issues affecting the mentioned crops and their value chains.
Livestock matters have always been tucked in as foot notes and annexure in a crop production document and resultantly the livestock production activities are relegated to afterthought activities.
It is not surprising that even the Agricultural Marketing Authority (AMA) a body meant to regulate the marketing of agricultural commodities has done very little if anything towards solving some livestock marketing challenges.
Their scope of agriculture seems to start and end with crop production despite the well documented reality that livestock production is one of the economic drivers of this country.
It is against this telling background that it has become instructive and imperative for Government to set up a body that will govern operations in the livestock value chains. More like a Livestock Industry Board (LIB) which will look into policy gaps and constrains that are afflicting the industry.
The LIB will look at how licensing overlaps and cattle levies can be rectified so that the beef value chain is comparable to other regions.
It will also look at how consumers can be protected so that they also enjoy a drop in beef prices as does buyers.
The board can also be relied on in terms of ensuring that Government departments are not only reactive when it comes to livestock challenges such as disease outbreaks but they are also proactive in preventing such occurrence.
This board should not only comprise carrier bureaucrats who have no clue about the practical aspects of livestock production but are always flying in and out of the country purportedly on look and learn excursions.
This should be a board of hands-on practitioners with real life experience for this industry.
It’s about time livestock matters are discussed on the main agenda not to be relegated to the any other business section.
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