News / National
Paddy Zhanda sabotaging Mugabe and Matabeleland farmers
16 Mar 2017 at 11:09hrs | Views
PRESS STATEMENT FROM MATABELELAND COUNCIL OF UNIONS
The Provincial Chairpersons of all farmer unions and associations in Matabeleland met on 6 March 2017 in Bulawayo and resolved to issue the following press statement pertaining to the Government's enforced decentralisation of cattle sales in the region.
1.We note with regret and concern the pronouncements by the deputy Minister of agriculture Honourable Paddy Zhanda in the Chronicle of 27 February 2017, in which he alleges that;
Ø The call for the reopening of Show grounds cattle sale in Bulawayo was being advanced by individuals bought by the "unscrupulous" auctioneer.
Ø Decentralised sales are functional well and rural communities are happy about them
Ø Show grounds will only be reserved for showcasing of cattle. Regrettably, the above pronouncements by the deputy minister are misleading and void of any material facts and run contrary to reality on the ground. We feel grossly insulted by the deputy minister's allegation that we are fronting the interests of the concerned cattle auctioneer running the showgrounds sale. We are self-respecting and rightful thinking people who have invested in the cattle industry. We need and deserve respect and support from the Government, like other farming communities elsewhere. Contrary to the deputyminister's claims, his stance militates against the development of the beef farming sector in Matabeleland by hindering market forces, to the obvious detriment of the farmer, which we cannot allow to continue.
The meeting fully supported Herald columnist Nick Mangwana's recently published piece on the plight of beef farmers in Matabeleland. We also applaud the Chronicle and Sunday News and indeed other media for their coverage of the issue which reflects the truthful feelings of farmers in the region about the enforced so-called decentralisation of cattlesales.
Sadly, the deputy minister also thinks Mangwana, like us, is being used by some elements best known to the deputy minister.
We urge the media to continue projecting the view of the farmers, as deputy minister Zhanda has in our view lost the plot and is working against gains of the President, Cde RG Robert and the ruling Zanu-PF party's well-thoughtout and pro-black land reform programme.
We hereby reaffirm our plea for the government to come to the rescue of cattle producers in Matabeleland by reopening Bulawayo cattle sales as a matter of urgency. We appreciate the need to control the foot and mouth disease, this is why the meeting agreed that only slaughter stock be the ones sold at showgrounds.
It is clear to us that the measures being enforced currently go beyond that and are harming the farmer.
It is regrettable that efforts to convince the honourable deputy minister otherwise have been met with an unwarrantedconfrontational and humiliating approach by him.
Infact, we believe the deputy minister adopts a 'fighting mood' whenever he comes down to Matabeleland, for reasons that are neither clear nor rational in our view.
He has gone to the extent of humiliating our leadership by calling them ‘sell-outs' in pubic for a whenever they try to raise the issues.
We call for constructive dialogue premised on the parameters of mutual respect and interest between farmers' unions and the ministry. We are prepared to play our part as farmers in the fight against FMD and call on the government to rethink its strategy against FMD in order to come up with a solution that fights the disease without compromising the viability of the farmer.
Cattle farming is the biggest economic activity in Matabeleland that sustains virtually all the families in the region, and cannot be managed the way it has been recently.
For the record, enforced decentralised sales are notworking for the farmers as fewer buyers, in some cases as low as one buyer, attend these sales due to distances and the state of theroads.
This results in a buyers' market where buyers dictate prices to desperate farmers.
Again, there are too few cattle at the decentralised sales to attract buyers.
At the end of the day, the farmers either accept the poor prices or are forced to deliver their cattle to abattoirsin Bulawayo where they have no power at all to bargain for better prices. Which ever way, the farmer loses, and this is grossly unfair and must change urgently.
Reopening of showgrounds cattle sale pens will allow a large pool of cattle to converge at one place, thereby drawing all the buyers.
This fuels competitive bidding, allowing the farmer to get the best price for their cattle. In the meantime, those who want to sale at sales in the districts would still be free to do so and have the option to take their produce to the sale in Bulawayo.
In short, cattle farmers wish for a situation where they are free to decide where to take their cattle to, just like any other producer in the country does.
Most butcheries and abattoirs are based in Bulawayo and are not willing to spend days tracking decentralised sales infar away places.
All they do is to wait for the cattle to come to abattoirs and get the meat cheaply.
We plead with the President, His Excellency the Commander-in-Chief of the Defence Forces, to intervene urgently in this matter to save the beef industry in Matabeleland, which is under siege from opportunists. Like tobacco, cotton, maize, tomato and vegetable farmers for instance, we want free access to markets, with government limiting its intervention to those matters that need it.
To our dismay, cattle farmers in the northern region are able to take their cattle to Mount Hampden cattle pens where prices are better than in the rural areas.
We therefore feel the deputy minister is discriminating against our farmers who have beendenied the right to do the same with Bulawayo.
We acknowledge the government's position of banning centralised breeding stock sales in order to curb FMD.
However, there is no reason to ban sale of slaughter stock as the animals will be slaughtered at the end of the day. How then do they spread FMD? How come animals are allowed to be moved to abattoirs?
The meeting failed to understand how a truck from Lupane carrying slaughter cattle to showgrounds to be sold there the next day will have a risk of foot and mouth disease than a truck from the same area Lupane carrying cattle tothe abattoir.
If indeed there is a higher risk let the veterinary departments how the science of it.
We remain guided by our competent veterinary department. Current measures are promoting the abattoirs at the expense of the farmer this is probably why abattoirs are not attending decentralised sale, because they are receiving cattle at their doorstep without incurring any cost.
Command AgricultureWe wish to draw a parallel with the successful command agriculture programme for crops where the government provided inputs assistance to farmers. Matabeleland is in ecological region 5, which is dry and not suitable for crop farming as compared to other regions.
Our region strives on cattle production.We call on the government to consider extending the command agriculture scheme to cattle production.
The main thrust should be providing replacement heifers, breeding bulls,technical advice,and loanswith appropriate terms as cattle farming is along term project,unlike cropping.
Our unions are ready to mobilise their members for the successful implementation of the cattle aspect of the command agriculture programme.
We urge the government to come up with development programmes that are specific to each ecological region,asopposed to the one-size-fits-all approach which never works for other regions.
1.We note with regret and concern the pronouncements by the deputy Minister of agriculture Honourable Paddy Zhanda in the Chronicle of 27 February 2017, in which he alleges that;
Ø The call for the reopening of Show grounds cattle sale in Bulawayo was being advanced by individuals bought by the "unscrupulous" auctioneer.
Ø Decentralised sales are functional well and rural communities are happy about them
Ø Show grounds will only be reserved for showcasing of cattle. Regrettably, the above pronouncements by the deputy minister are misleading and void of any material facts and run contrary to reality on the ground. We feel grossly insulted by the deputy minister's allegation that we are fronting the interests of the concerned cattle auctioneer running the showgrounds sale. We are self-respecting and rightful thinking people who have invested in the cattle industry. We need and deserve respect and support from the Government, like other farming communities elsewhere. Contrary to the deputyminister's claims, his stance militates against the development of the beef farming sector in Matabeleland by hindering market forces, to the obvious detriment of the farmer, which we cannot allow to continue.
The meeting fully supported Herald columnist Nick Mangwana's recently published piece on the plight of beef farmers in Matabeleland. We also applaud the Chronicle and Sunday News and indeed other media for their coverage of the issue which reflects the truthful feelings of farmers in the region about the enforced so-called decentralisation of cattlesales.
Sadly, the deputy minister also thinks Mangwana, like us, is being used by some elements best known to the deputy minister.
We urge the media to continue projecting the view of the farmers, as deputy minister Zhanda has in our view lost the plot and is working against gains of the President, Cde RG Robert and the ruling Zanu-PF party's well-thoughtout and pro-black land reform programme.
We hereby reaffirm our plea for the government to come to the rescue of cattle producers in Matabeleland by reopening Bulawayo cattle sales as a matter of urgency. We appreciate the need to control the foot and mouth disease, this is why the meeting agreed that only slaughter stock be the ones sold at showgrounds.
It is clear to us that the measures being enforced currently go beyond that and are harming the farmer.
It is regrettable that efforts to convince the honourable deputy minister otherwise have been met with an unwarrantedconfrontational and humiliating approach by him.
Infact, we believe the deputy minister adopts a 'fighting mood' whenever he comes down to Matabeleland, for reasons that are neither clear nor rational in our view.
He has gone to the extent of humiliating our leadership by calling them ‘sell-outs' in pubic for a whenever they try to raise the issues.
We call for constructive dialogue premised on the parameters of mutual respect and interest between farmers' unions and the ministry. We are prepared to play our part as farmers in the fight against FMD and call on the government to rethink its strategy against FMD in order to come up with a solution that fights the disease without compromising the viability of the farmer.
Cattle farming is the biggest economic activity in Matabeleland that sustains virtually all the families in the region, and cannot be managed the way it has been recently.
For the record, enforced decentralised sales are notworking for the farmers as fewer buyers, in some cases as low as one buyer, attend these sales due to distances and the state of theroads.
This results in a buyers' market where buyers dictate prices to desperate farmers.
Again, there are too few cattle at the decentralised sales to attract buyers.
At the end of the day, the farmers either accept the poor prices or are forced to deliver their cattle to abattoirsin Bulawayo where they have no power at all to bargain for better prices. Which ever way, the farmer loses, and this is grossly unfair and must change urgently.
Reopening of showgrounds cattle sale pens will allow a large pool of cattle to converge at one place, thereby drawing all the buyers.
This fuels competitive bidding, allowing the farmer to get the best price for their cattle. In the meantime, those who want to sale at sales in the districts would still be free to do so and have the option to take their produce to the sale in Bulawayo.
In short, cattle farmers wish for a situation where they are free to decide where to take their cattle to, just like any other producer in the country does.
Most butcheries and abattoirs are based in Bulawayo and are not willing to spend days tracking decentralised sales infar away places.
All they do is to wait for the cattle to come to abattoirs and get the meat cheaply.
We plead with the President, His Excellency the Commander-in-Chief of the Defence Forces, to intervene urgently in this matter to save the beef industry in Matabeleland, which is under siege from opportunists. Like tobacco, cotton, maize, tomato and vegetable farmers for instance, we want free access to markets, with government limiting its intervention to those matters that need it.
To our dismay, cattle farmers in the northern region are able to take their cattle to Mount Hampden cattle pens where prices are better than in the rural areas.
We therefore feel the deputy minister is discriminating against our farmers who have beendenied the right to do the same with Bulawayo.
We acknowledge the government's position of banning centralised breeding stock sales in order to curb FMD.
However, there is no reason to ban sale of slaughter stock as the animals will be slaughtered at the end of the day. How then do they spread FMD? How come animals are allowed to be moved to abattoirs?
The meeting failed to understand how a truck from Lupane carrying slaughter cattle to showgrounds to be sold there the next day will have a risk of foot and mouth disease than a truck from the same area Lupane carrying cattle tothe abattoir.
If indeed there is a higher risk let the veterinary departments how the science of it.
We remain guided by our competent veterinary department. Current measures are promoting the abattoirs at the expense of the farmer this is probably why abattoirs are not attending decentralised sale, because they are receiving cattle at their doorstep without incurring any cost.
Command AgricultureWe wish to draw a parallel with the successful command agriculture programme for crops where the government provided inputs assistance to farmers. Matabeleland is in ecological region 5, which is dry and not suitable for crop farming as compared to other regions.
Our region strives on cattle production.We call on the government to consider extending the command agriculture scheme to cattle production.
The main thrust should be providing replacement heifers, breeding bulls,technical advice,and loanswith appropriate terms as cattle farming is along term project,unlike cropping.
Our unions are ready to mobilise their members for the successful implementation of the cattle aspect of the command agriculture programme.
We urge the government to come up with development programmes that are specific to each ecological region,asopposed to the one-size-fits-all approach which never works for other regions.
Source - Byo24News
