The Sunday News
Limukani Ncube, Feature
“For us to contain January disease and other tick borne related diseases, we need to religiously dip following the 5:5:4 regime (close-interval dipping known as the 5-5-4 dipping cycle. Dip day one, repeat after five days, repeat after five days, then repeat after four days), for the next two years. Government is rolling out two programmes; one, tick grease programme; two, local manufacture of dipping chemicals,” the permanent secretary in the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Resettlement, Mr John Basera, said on social media site twitter last week.
The sentiments by Mr Basera echoed the thrust by the Government to revive the national herd which declined by about 20 percent for beef, over 83 percent for dairy, and 26 percent and 25 percent for pigs and small ruminants respectively, between 2009 and 2020. Furthermore, Government says the productivity of small holder cattle herds remains very low, with average calving rates of about 45 percent, against a potential of 60 percent and market off-take rates of about six percent against a recommended 20 percent.
Nonetheless, Livestock Production Systems in Zimbabwe says livestock provides income and employment to farmers, agricultural service providers and others involved in the value chain. The local livestock production system is characterised by small-scale subsistence farming. Despite the importance of livestock to rural livelihoods, productivity remains low and this is linked to farmer behaviour, feed unavailability and cost, poor quality of animals, diseases, and frequent droughts.
The organisation further says that animal health management, improved breeds and improved feed are key to enhance resilience. It is behind that background that the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Water, Fisheries and Rural Resettlement has capacitated Agricultural Extension Workers and others in the production chain so that the livestock sector contributes towards the country’s economic recovery. The Government last year came up with the Livestock Growth Plan, which is part of the agriculture food systems transformation strategy which seeks to achieve a US$8, 2 billion agriculture economy by 2025 to ensure attainment of Vision 2030.
Key strategies of the Livestock Growth Plan entail: an animal nutrition programme, a genetics improvement programme, an animal health programme, a climate change adaptation and small stock programme, the development of market and trade infrastructure, and resource mobilisation.
There is no doubt that livestock production plays an important role in the social, cultural and economic environment of Zimbabwe. The country’s economic blueprint, National Development Strategy 1 (NDS1) says to boost the national herd and ensure that livestock farming is a business that contributes to the well-being of the economy, Government will prioritise animal health and production through strengthening farmer knowledge, skills in livestock production and health so as to enhance productivity.
Some of the interventions include upscaling hay cutting, development of pastures green belts and creation of forage banks, promotion of farm feeds formulation using cassava and cow peas to produce survival rations, intensifying dipping programmes and blitz tick grease application to prevent and control entry and outbreaks of animal diseases, providing lab diagnostics for confirmation of animal diseases and researches on animal diseases.
The Government is also strengthening implementation measures against tsetse fly and undertaking operational research, creating livestock business centres for small stocks (goats, sheep, pigs) based on the Hub and Spoke Model, strengthening the pass on schemes for dairy, and small stock producers, increasing watering points for livestock, establishing a national bull centre and semen processing laboratory to strengthen conservation of animal genetic resources and research and developing stress tolerant animal breeds and further promoting artificial insemination by cascading the programme to A1 small holder farmers, among other interventions.
Measures to boost the national herd are already in motion, including the Livestock Command Scheme where communal farmers were given heifers to boost their herd in 2018. In addition, there is a nationwide programme for artificial insemination. The artificial insemination practice involves the collection of sperm cells from a bull to manually deposit them into the reproductive tract of a cow.
The programme came following the realisation that the country had a shortage of bulls, at a time it is working on restocking following a sharp decline of the national herd since 2000. Zimbabwe has an estimated national herd of five million, of which 45 percent are males.
The programme will lead to increased potential for genetic selection because artificial insemination allows males to produce more off springs, and fewer males are needed. Therefore, one can choose only the few best males for use as parents, increasing the selection intensity. Furthermore, because males can have more off springs, their off springs can be used in a progeny test programme to more accurately evaluate the genetic value of the male. Finally, individual farmers can use artificial insemination to increase the genetic pool with which his or her animals can be mated, potentially decreasing effects of inbreeding.
The Ministry announced recently that it will spearhead a programme for the local production of vaccines for tick-borne diseases to reduce the import bill and to boost production of livestock in the country under the livestock growth plan. The programme will run together with a US$21 million scheme to rehabilitate and construct dip tanks countrywide.
Presenting a Livestock Growth Plan document during a training programme for Matabeleland South Province district extension officers in Gwanda recently, provincial livestock specialist, Mr Hatitye Zondai said the ministry will also establish a vaccination production plant to control foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) outbreaks.
“The Livestock Growth Plan has been crafted to address challenges that are affecting development of the livestock sector by rolling out sustainable solutions with support from Government, the private sector and development partners. The growth of the livestock sub-sector is characterised by low production and productivity and evidenced by low off-take, low fertility, high mortality, low carcass weight, poor quality and inability to effectively compete on export markets,” he said.
In June 2018, President Mnangagwa launched the Command Livestock programme at Gwanda Showgrounds and vowed that his administration would prioritise economic development. He handed over 660 heifers to 151 beneficiaries from Matabeleland South’s seven districts. They comprised mostly of Brahman, Brano and cross Brahman breeds.
“The Command Agriculture element is being implemented in regions based on their ecological systems. Here in Matabeleland South crops do not do well under the current climatic conditions and hence we have to promote animal husbandry and other related projects. In addition, a further 1 740 cattle will be distributed to farmers in Matabeleland North province soon. We are very grateful to our implementing partners who are in the midst of sourcing more cattle from regional markets,” President Mnangagwa was quoted as saying when launching the Livestock Command Scheme in Gwanda.
He said the Command Livestock initiative will cover those interested in piggery, fisheries, ruminants and poultry, among others.
The Command Livestock Programme was blissfully received in the Matabeleland region, taking cognisance that the area is rich in cattle farming and its climatic classification of which most of its areas fall under Natural Region Four and Five which are relatively dry with very low annual rainfall.
“As a farmer I am excited about this Government programme, it’s truly a positive development which will play a big part in enhancing our livelihoods. The three heifers we received are going to play a significant role in increasing our herd of cattle because we are looking forward to them calving beginning this year and in the few years to come,” said one of the beneficiaries, Mrs Mainah Ndlovu of Banda Village at Menyezwa ward in Lupane District, Matabeleland North.
