The Sunday News
Dumisani Nsingo Farming Reporter
THE Ministry of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development has completed a draft of the Livestock Policy that seeks to empower producers and regulate the sector’s activities, a senior Government official has said. The country has been operating without a Livestock Policy and only relied on a draft that was crafted in 1995. The draft has over the years been deemed ineffective by players in the livestock industry.
Lobbying for a livestock policy, comes on the backdrop of a European Union €7 million facility set up in Zimbabwe to help increase household food, income and nutrition security through commercialisation of an integrated and sustainable smallholder livestock sector.
Speaking at the official opening of Malaba community farmers’ feedlot in Mazwi Village in Matobo District, Matabeleland South Province last Friday, the Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development responsible for livestock production, Cde Paddy Zhanda, said Government was aware that livestock producers were not getting value from their animals, a situation which had culminated in the demise of this sector.
“We have finished compiling input into the Livestock Policy draft and within the next month it will be ready for implementation. The policy will reflect livestock production from a policing point of view.
“One of its main objectives will be the cutting off of middlemen through ensuring that the marketing of livestock is regulated with the farmers getting the best out of their animals. As Government we have an obligation to ensure the farmers are protected,” he said.
The policy will also look at problems affecting animal health and production provisions as well as coming up with measures to curb diseases.
The enactment of a Livestock Policy is expected to assist farmers to positively exploit their animals particularly cattle, sheep and goats.
He urged farmers to embrace livestock farming as a commercial venture so as to realise meaningful returns.
“The problem with most communal farmers is that they don’t take livestock farming passionately and as a business. You find most of them holding onto cattle for sentimental purposes to the extent that instead of the animals assisting one to better their livelihood they would hold on to them while drowning in poverty.
“To this end Government is exploring various ways of ensuring that our communal farmers are at least introduced to short-term courses in livestock management and production as well as marketing skills so that they appreciate livestock farming as a business,” Cde Zhanda said.
He, however, hailed farmers in Matabeleland South for taking a lead in safeguarding their livestock from succumbing to the effects of drought through introducing a number of community feedlots, a situation which has seen many families managing to boost their household food security and their livelihoods.
“As Government we encourage this type of project (feedlot) because it’s part of the productive sector. It is also worth noting that feedlotting is part of value addition which is enshrined in our Zimbabwe Agenda for Sustainable Socio-Economic Transformation of which food security and nutrition is cluster number one.”
Speaking at the same function, Chief Malaba expressed the need to come up with a cattle restocking exercise specifically to assist farmers in Matabeleland South as the province lost most of its herd due to the effects of drought three years ago.
“We are appealing to Government to introduce a restocking exercise specifically targeting Matobo District and the province since this is mostly a cattle rearing area. This plea is solely because we lost thousands of cattle due to lack of pastures. The situation was really heart rending, you would see a farmer moving over 100 cattle to an area with a bit of grazing but on coming back they would have about 10 only,” he said.
Also present at the function was the director in the Division of Livestock Production and Development in the Ministry of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development, Mr Bothwell Makodza, and the Division of Livestock Production and Development Matabeleland South livestock specialist, Mrs Simangaliphi Ngwabi.
