Panic grips Mat South

PANIC has gripped farmers in Matabeleland South Province as cattle have started dying because of lack of pastures. Water shortages have also hit most districts in the province.

About 11 cattle reportedly died within four days last week in an area in Mangwe District.

The poor rains this year left most districts in the province without pastures, which has left thousands of livestock prone to starvation.

In an interview yesterday, the Matabeleland South Livestock Farmers' chairperson, Retired

Major Clement Bishop Malaba said the situation was critical and called for urgent measures to be taken.

Rtd Maj Malaba said cattle were in a deplorable state, which makes it difficult for farmers to sell them.

He said the worst affected areas were Gwanda, Kezi, Mangwe and Bulilima.

"I visited Kezi and Mangwe districts recently and cattle are in a sorry state. Between Thursday and Saturday last week, about 11 beasts died in Mayobodo and Mambale areas while there are reports of more deaths in Mbome as well. We are getting reports that the situation is the same in several other areas although we are still gathering the data," said Rtd Maj Malaba.

He said the situation was compounded by the fact that the livestock were being moved distances of between 10 and 15 km to the nearest water points as many water sources had dried up.

Rtd Maj Malaba said only those areas surrounded by farms were in a better situation because farmers had taken their cattle for grazing in the farms.

"The situation is extremely bad and if no mitigatory measures are taken, people will lose all their cattle. There are no pastures anymore and some farmers have moved their cattle to areas around Marula, Figtree, Matopo and closer to Bulawayo where there are better pastures. It is those that remained in the villages that are seriously affected because the farmers have no means of feeding them," he said.

Presenting his Mid Term Budget Review Statement last week, Finance Minister Tendai Biti said there was a need for mitigatory strategies in the form of supplementary feeding and relocation of cattle from drought stricken areas to areas with enough pastures.

Farmers recently complained that some unscrupulous farm owners were cashing in on the drought situation by demanding a beast for every 10 cattle in exchange for pastures.

Some farm owners have in the past been fighting running battles with villagers over cattle that stray into their farms in search of pastures.

Rtd Major Malaba called on the Government to quickly come up with measures to preserve the country's herd.

"This is the time when farmers should join unions and pool resources to buy stock feed for their cattle. We had droughts in 1945 and 1955 when the Government transported cattle to Matabeleland North where there were pastures and quite a number survived.

"Buyers are no longer interested in the cattle because they are below the grade which is a big loss to farmers. The Cold Storage Company has a programme of exchanging oxen with heifers and that is proving helpful to farmers," said Rtd Maj Malaba.

Governor Angeline Masuku recently urged farmers to combine efforts and build cattle pens in their communities to feed livestock in times of drought.

The department of Livestock Production and Development recently said a total of 200 000 cattle might succumb to drought in the province this year.

The drought prone Matabeleland South province has about 389 000 cattle.

The country's cattle population stands at 5 156 753.