Marvelous Moyo Gwanda Correspondent
PASTURES are fast deteriorating in Matabeleland South due to the poor rainfalls received in the country’s drought-prone province this year.

In an interview yesterday, the province’s chief livestock specialist, Simangaliphi Ngwabi, said the veld situation was getting worse in Matabeleland South as the grazing land was depleting fast. She said the worst affected areas were Beitbridge, Gwanda South, Matobo and Bulilima.

“The veld situation is deteriorating fast because most grazing land has been exhausted and the remaining available grazing would not last long. The situation would have worsened by next month.

“In some parts of the province, especially in Beitbridge, livestock now feeds on Mopani tree leaves,” she said.

Ngwabi said farmers should adopt drought mitigation measures to avoid any cattle losses in the province.

In some areas such as Zezani and Toporo in Beitbridge, farmers have already started sourcing stockfeed for their livestock while in other parts of the province they were struggling to introduce supplementary feeding due to lack of funds.

“Farmers should not make the mistake of waiting until it’s too late. If a farmer is really into livestock production, it’s important that during this time of the year (winter), they give their animals supplementary feed because the available grass has less food value. This is the situation in winter even when there’s no drought. It becomes worse when we have drought,” said Ngwabi.

She said farmers who were breeding animals should source supplementary feed earlier because failure to do so would result in the animals failing to produce calves next year.

In the previous years during drought, farmers would move their cattle to areas with better grazing.

However, this year, Ngwabi advised farmers not to move their animals to avoid the spread of foot and mouth disease that has hit some parts of the province.

“Farmers are encouraged not to move their cattle because of the foot and mouth outbreak. Stocktheft cases are also prevalent during the process of moving cattle to other areas,” she said.

Water levels in rivers and dams were also dwindling while some boreholes were drying up.

Ngwabi said in some areas people and livestock had started competing for water at the same source.

The government and its partner, Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) recently conducted an assessment of the drought situation in the province to help come up with mitigation strategies to save the province’s cattle from dying.

The government has since submitted a project proposal to FAO following the findings of the situation on the ground.