Artificial insemination programme starts in Beitbridge
United Nations Development Programme
The Chronicle
Thupeyo Muleya, Beitbridge Bureau
THE United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has partnered Government in rolling out an artificial insemination programme in Beitbridge under a three-year Zimbabwe resilience programme to boost livestock production in the district.
The project, which is being implemented through the Ministry of Lands Agriculture and Rural Resettlement, is being implemented in the district’s 14 wards and started late last year. It will wind up in 2020.
The International Rescue Committee (IRC) is leading the implementation process that is being rolled out by a consortium made up of Cesvi, Matopos Research Centre and Biohub.
Beitbridge district agronomist, Mr Masauso Mawocha, said so far they had attended to 138 cattle and were targeting at least 550 by the end of the year.
“We are rolling out the programme in 14 rural wards and so far a total of 200 have been offered for the programme and we have attended to 138. Our target for this year is to attend to at least 550 cattle.
Mr Mawocha said although the project was running according to plan, they had challenges in terms of the poor livestock condition, which might see some of the animals failing to conceive.
The Zimbabwe Resilience Programme will also see the rehabilitation of nine irrigation projects in the district.
These include Bili, Shashe, Jalukanga, Dombolidenje, River Ranch, Tongwe, Kwalu, Tshikwalakwala and Ndambe 2.