Cattle in Manama on their way from Tuli River
Marvelous Moyo Features Reporter
NKOSIKHONA Nyathi, a farmer in Manama area in Gwanda District, is a dejected man. Nyathi, who is the village head of Humbane Village Number Eight in ward 17, recently lost two cattle to drought and diseases as the dry spell continues to hit Matabeleland South Province.
Pastures in Humbane village are stressed as the area has serious water problems. Farmers fear a repeat of the 2012/13 drought season where they lost a number of their livestock.
Nyathi has moved to save his livestock from dying due to drought. He has taken heed of advice from experts to sell part of his herd and buy supplementary stockfeed for the remaining cattle.
Nyathi and other villagers have since driven their cattle, which are in a bad shape, to relief grazing areas, known to the locals as emlageni. The village head has 22 head of cattle.
“I have lost two cattle so far due to drought and blackleg. Drought usually goes hand in hand with diseases. I’ve 22 beasts remaining now and am working on saving them. I don’t want to lose any more cattle,” he said.
It never rains but pours for the Humbane villagers.
The farmers are battling a new challenge at the relief grazing areas where they are losing beasts to poachers and wild animals. Some of them have since set up base at the scant pastures to protect their livestock.
Water scarcity also remains a serious threat to livestock.
“The situation is so bad that even if we buy stockfeed as supplementary feed we’re still losing some animals due to water shortages. Our cattle rely on the shallow wells we dig along the Tuli River bed for drinking water. These wells are meant to prevent the animals from travelling long distances to water points since most are now in poor shape. Some of the cattle fail to drink the smelly water from the shallow wells and end up dying of thirst,” Nyathi said.
There is no dam in their area and four boreholes sunk some years back to augment the scant water supplies have since dried up. Only a single borehole whose water table has lowered is operational.
The borehole no longer has the capacity to adequately provide villagers with water for domestic use.
Homesteads are now receiving a bucket of water per day.
Nyathi said around this time every year, boreholes always dry up. Some non-governmental organisations always make empty promises to improve their water situation, he said.
Farmers are praying that the rains come not later than the first week of November to save their animals from perishing.
“If it doesn’t rain by the end of the month, the situation could get worse by November. Even at the relief grazing areas, the situation is also getting bad. Pastures are fast depleting and water sources there are also disappearing. We appeal to government and its partners to construct a dam for our ward since we don’t have a single dam,” Nyathi said.
He said cattle were a source of livelihood for most families.
The veld situation in Manama area is deplorable.
Most of the grasslands are now so bare after donkeys grazed everything.
A cattle rancher, Mereki Nare of Mkhalipe area has temporarily left his homestead to set up an umlaga at Doddieburn Farm for his 82 head of cattle.
But the farm is overcrowded after farmers from as far as Beitbridge brought their beasts to the same umlaga.
“I’ve 87 cattle that I took to the farm and left five at home. Of the five I left at home, two of them died of drought and diseases,” said Nare.
At times he occasionally visits his homestead after cycling for up to four hours from the farm.
Nare, however, spends more time at the farm to guard against wild animals.
“We can’t leave our livestock unattended because there are a lot of hyenas and poachers. However, things are also turning bad at the farm because of congestion. We are now looking up to God for rains,” he said.
Soneni Dube of Gohole village had to drive his five cattle to Tuli River where there is some green vegetation.
“My cattle have been grazing along streams where there was some green grass but now the situation is becoming bad. I will have to start pen-feeding soon,” said Dube.
Pen feeding is expensive and many farmers cannot afford it.
At home, Dube is keeping a one-year-old calf in his kraal which he is pen-feeding.
“I started pen-feeding this calf in July and it takes two 50kg bags per month. I buy the feed at Manama business centre at $13,50 per bag. I’ve been using my pension money. When I start to pen-feed the other five, I will have to dig deeper into my pocket,” he said.
The stockfeed is not readily available to farmers. At times the local shop that supplies stockfeed runs out of the product.
Farmers are not happy with their colleagues who bring small livestock like goats to the limited pastures at emlageni.
Dube said: “The situation is so bad that donkeys now have to stretch their necks to reach for tree leaves. This is something that I have never experienced ever since I was born. Donkeys have now turned browsers.”
The high temperatures experienced in the region have exacerbated the pasture and water problems faced in Gwanda District.
The drought effects on livestock are being felt all over the district. Patana village in ward 14, Siboza, Mkhalipe and Nhwali are some of the worst affected areas.
Villagers in Patana said dealers were taking advantage of the situation by overpricing stockfeed. They said stockfeed was selling at between $18 and $22 per bag.
Ward 17 Councillor Ephraim John Nyathi said most farmers were worried about their cattle which they were taking to relief grazing areas. He said donkeys were now succumbing to drought in some parts of the ward.
“The challenge is that even if it rains, there are some areas that will never recover and have some vegetation grow on them because of the way donkeys graze. Therefore, we discourage farmers from taking donkeys to relief grazing areas,” he said.
Clr Nyathi said farmers in his area had a lot of goats which they could sell and buy stockfeed to save their cattle.
Villagers are generally reluctant to sell their cattle.
In Nhwali, villagers had to struggle to lift some of their beasts at a cattle branding exercise as they were too weak to move on their own.
Touch Ndlovu, the village head of Bulobelo, said most of the cattle had lost a lot of weight.
Ndlovu said some farmers with two head of cattle were afraid of selling their beasts as they were draught power.
To others, cattle are a sign of wealth hence it becomes difficult to dispose of their animals.
Chief Marupi of Dibilashaba area, whose area of jurisdiction has been the most affected by drought in the district, expressed concern over the cattle deaths. “The challenge is that our dams have been silted and need to be scooped to improve on their water holding capacity,” said Chief Marupi.
He advised farmers to continue embracing the knowledge imparted by livestock experts to avoid a possible disaster.
Farmers in Matabeleland South Province lost about 12,000 cattle during the 2012/13 drought.
Most waited for government to chip in with drought mitigation strategies while they did little or nothing to save their livestock.
“This year around, some farmers are still waiting for government drought mitigation measures. This is a costly mistake which no farmer should risk repeating,” said Chief Marupi.
He said farmers should augment government efforts to build the national herd. The traditional leader encouraged farmers to take farming as a business and avoid unnecessary losses of livestock.
“We need to have a mindset change among farmers because if they stick to the old perception that having many cattle is a sign of being rich, they will end up losing more. They should be wary of climate change issues,” said the Chief.
The province has so far recorded a total of 39 cattle deaths since August. Bulilima district has the highest deaths at 18, followed by Gwanda with 12. Matobo district has five and Mangwe four deaths.
Three of the province’s districts have not reported any drought-related cattle deaths.
However, the Department of Livestock Production and Development says more cattle deaths are likely to be recorded due to depleted pastures and water scarcity in most parts of the province.
The provincial livestock specialist, Mario Hatitye Muchemwa, said Beitbridge district was in a critical state in terms of grazing land and water situation. He said the district had, however, not recorded cattle deaths because farmers took precautionary measures at an early stage as advised by experts.
“Farmers need to cull their animals. They need to get rid of the old unproductive animals. They should not wait until animals lose their good shape. They should dispose them on time so that they get better value for money,” said Muchemwa.
The government, working with partners such as the Food and Agriculture Organisation, has saved farmers’ livestock in drought times through the provision of supplementary feeding. “We’re expecting to receive supplementary feed from FAO again soon.
“However, farmers learnt a lesson in the 2012/13 drought season because a lot of them are sacrificing buying supplementary feed as they try to cope with the situation. Only a few failed to learn from that experience,” said Muchemwa.
He suggested that farmers pay a special levy to government to allow for speedy intervention during drought situations.
Fodder production in irrigation schemes has been identified as another way that could help reduce the effects of drought. Hay can be harvested and stored for up to three years where there are proper storage facilities, said Muchemwa.
He said farmers can also insure their cattle.
Muchemwa advised farmers to move their cattle to areas with water sources as water was critical for their health.
He highlighted the need to dredge the silted dams and the importance of constructing new ones as a way of availing more water for animals in the province.
Veld fires have reduced the province’s pastures especially in the Shangani area which is a major source of hay.
The province, according to Muchemwa, is overpopulated with cattle, thereby straining pastures.
More than 350,000 cattle in the province are at risk of succumbing to the effects of drought this year if intervention measures are not put in place as a matter of urgency.