The Sunday News
AS the reality of this year’s drought continues to dawn and crystalise right in front of our eyes not only in Zimbabwe but also in the entire Southern African region, conversations are increasingly becoming about nothing else but the disaster that is now fully loaded and ready to detonate to the masses.
It should therefore not surprise readers that this space is now almost entirely occupied by and preoccupied with the issue of drought. The conversations in all livestock spaces and platforms is now about the damaging drought to the extent that even the deadly Theileriosis disease which continues to ravage livestock farmers in some parts of the country including some districts of Matabeleland South Province, seems to be paling off as the coming disaster get massive prominence and rightly so.
What is encouraging though is that a lot of farmers are taking heed from extension messages such as destocking and selling off some animals.
This is shown by the plummeting beef producer prices as the supply way outstrips the demand and some abattoir operators have even buckled under the pressure of animals pouring in.
One prominent abattoir flighted a notice a few days ago indicating that they have suspended slaughtering as they now have huge numbers of animals in lairage and the meat is not moving that fast from the cold rooms.
On the other hand, supplies of important feed components such as molasses are also feeling the weight to the effect that at the moment getting molasses from traditional suppliers in Chiredzi, is yielding no success.
I know farmers, this pen included who have been battling all week to get just 90 drums from the sugar estate in the Lowveld!
However, in the midst of all this, what is increasingly becoming self-evident is that this drought needs an “all hands on the deck” approach with the involvement of all stakeholders no matter how small one thinks his/her part is on the livestock value chain.
It is time all players from various players, be they banks, feed manufacturers, transporters, abattoir operators, drug retailers and butcheries, just to mention a few, come together and share what each one of them is willing to do as a drought mitigation measure.
As an example, is there a bank willing to offer livestock farmers loans in terms of stockfeed?
Are there stock feed manufacturers willing to trade stockfeed for livestock?
Image taken from Shapiro
How about abattoir operators, what is it that they are willing to present forward to help livestock farmers survive the coming scourge? The farmers themselves, are they willing to advance their animals to abattoir operators and be paid later even next year for the animals?
This is the national conversation that we need to have so that when the time for the pawpaw to hit the fan comes, we are not found in sixes and sevens.
To that extent am glad that something is brewing and sooner rather than later an indaba will be held in Bulawayo bringing all critical players in one room and hoping to come up with implementable and tangible strategies.
I have not been authorised to share details on this, hence I can only go this far! The crux of the matter, however, is that all should realise that saving the livestock industry from the coming disaster cannot be a responsibility of Government alone and neither can it be a farmers’ responsibility only.
It is a collective responsibility and hence the need for players to meet and stew over what is possible and what is not under the circumstances. Drinking water will be a huge challenge as most water bodies did not receive any inflows, therefore what are the borehole drillers willing to do to save the farmers? What is Zinwa, the national water regulating body planning to do to help farmers during these trying times? These are some of the pertinent questions which the nation needs to have and as livestock farmers we pray for the planned livestock indaba to be successful so that we can save both the national herd and farmers investment. Uyabonga umntaka MaKhumalo.
Mhlupheki Dube is a livestock specialist and farmer. He writes in his own capacity. Feedback [email protected] cell 0772851275
