The Sunday News
CLIMATE change effects have been crystallising and showing with devastating effects in most of our communities over the years.
While other areas across the globe have experienced heavy rains leading to floods, in this part of the world our share of the changing climate has mostly been very hot temperatures accompanied by poor rains giving birth to endless droughts.
We are in the middle of one such drought. It is an old age wisdom and truism that one has to adapt to suit the changing circumstances or else you will go extinct. In that regard, it is in good keeping to implore our smallholder livestock farmers to adapt to the changing climatic conditions and adopt compliant approaches which will enable them to withstand these conditions. One such critical practice is good rangeland management practices.
Our rangelands are deteriorating at an alarming rate with some places totally degraded even from relatively new areas such as the recent resettlement communities. It is common to find rangelands that are completely degraded to almost unusable conditions especially in Matabeleland North Province which are predominantly made up of very loose Kalahari sand. The same province is also home to a number of wetlands that have been drying up at a concerning rate due to both climatic conditions and poor management. These wetlands provide drying water for livestock and human beings. In a majority of cases these have been converted into cropping fields because they are also home to very rich alluvial soils and in drought years crops have better survival chances in these areas.
The other aspect of poorly managed rangelands that is easily noticeable in communal areas, are the severely bush encroached grazing areas or those colonised by invasive species such as Lantana camara. Both situations reduce the carrying capacity of the rangeland. It is imperative for livestock farmers to take an active action in managing their rangelands so that they remain productive.
A productive rangeland in simple terms, is one which is able to support the growth of herbaceous species to sustain the existence of herbivores. The rangeland should provide enough grazing and water sources for the population of herbivores it carries. This therefore calls for livestock farmers to actively manage their rangelands so that they produce enough grass and have enough water sources for their animals.
Extension messaging whether from Government agencies or private sector players, have to push for livestock farmers to take responsibility in proper rangeland management. It should be an integral part of farmer training. It is important to note that most communal farmers have been practicing some aspects of rangeland management such as the very rudimentary rotational grazing that is found in most of the communal areas. Animals are rotated between two major grazing blocks that is the area along rivers and waterways and another grazing in the forest area. The rotational grazing is mostly inspired by the need to protect the cropping fields and much less the grazing land itself. However, in some areas this has shown great potential of making the rangeland productive.
I have had an opportunity to visit some of these grazing lands and I picked up interesting lessons in some. In one area along a major river which separates two communities on each side of the river, there is a grazing land with thriving lushy green grass on one side of the river and a totally degraded grazing area on the other side. This is an area which I visited just this past week and their grazing has green grasses obviously because it’s along the river banks but the other side of the river is totally overgrazed and degraded.
The difference between the two being simply the management. In one area, they close off their grazing area to allow for grass establishment and preserve the area for the lean season, while the other community across just randomly and continuously grazes their part.
The difference in the condition of the two grazing areas which are just on each side of the river, is phenomenal. There is no better illustration of the benefit of good rangeland management practices than the stuck contrast between the areas. Now if such practices can be promoted and instilled in all our communities, maybe we can begin to have effective rangeland management practices that ensure communities can withstand the effects of climate change on their rangelands.
Uyabonga umntaka MaKhumalo.
Mhlupheki Dube is a livestock specialist and farmer. He writes in his own capacity. Feedback [email protected] cell 0772851275
