Over 9 000 cattle from drought in Matabeleland South province

THE number of cattle that have succumbed to drought in Matabeleland South province has soared to more than 9 000 up from 2 000 last month amid calls for stakeholders to move with speed and save the situation that is seriously threatening the national herd and beef production.

Fact sheet

Number of cattle deaths by district

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Mangwe -  5 476

Matobo  - 1 232

Beitbridge - 1 015

Gwanda - 689

Insiza - 665

Bulilima- 172

Umzingwane - 23

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Provincial chief livestock specialist, Ms Simangaphi Ngwabi, told the Sunday News in an interview last week that the province had as at 20 December recorded a total of 9 272 cattle deaths due to the effects of drought.

The most affected is Mangwe District with 5 476 followed by Matobo with 1 232 then Beitbridge with 1 015 while the least affected is Umzingwane with only 23 reported deaths.

She said the number might be more than that as some of the deaths went unreported as the grinding effects of the drought were being felt in the province.

Ms Ngwabi said the situation in the province had remained critical despite timely Government interventions through the distribution of supplementary stock feed under the livestock drought mitigation programme.

"Cattle are still dying due to the effects of drought. In actual fact, nothing has changed in as far as improvement in pastures is concerned. There is no rain and the figures of cattle dying are increasing on a daily basis. The situation in some of the districts in the province is dire and threatening to leave them without anything.

"We, therefore, still require some more supplementary feeding and any other support mechanisms. We also continue to encourage farmers to buy the supplementary feeding early and not wait until it is too late. The figures are quite alarming and worrying and if the trend continues, then the province will be wiped of cattle.

"Mangwe district is the most affected because there are no pastures completely in areas such as Brunapeg. Part of the deaths is however, attributable to the reluctance of farmers who do not want to buy supplementary feeding in time despite our calls for them not to wait until it is too late," she said.

She cited gross lack of drought preparedness by the affected livestock farmers as a major constraint to beef production saying farmers should prepare for drought every year as it was now a common phenomenon.

Ms Ngwabi said the situation in districts such as Insiza was exacerbated by veld fires that destroyed whatever little pastures that were there leaving cattle with nothing to feed on while Beitbridge was known to have no pastures, something that has seen even donkeys succumbing to drought. She added that there was no water and most of the boreholes in the province almost dry.

She said they had been advising farmers to divide the arable land they were using to grow maize, resulting in pathetic yields and start growing fodder as one of the livestock drought mitigation measures but most farmers were not paying heed to the advice preferring to start running around when the situation was critical.

"Farmers should sell some of their cattle in April and May and buy supplementary feeding. Although supplementary feeding is considered a last resort, that is the only available option and livestock farmers should be prepared to do it. They should not wait until it is too late. As for the Government, I honestly think it has played its part through unveiling the support programme and making the feed a lot more affordable although more support needs to be availed," said Ms Ngwabi.

She said a 50kg bag of beef survival ration was reduced from $11 to $6 to allow more farmers to afford the supplement but urged those that can afford to look for more options available.