BULAWAYO – Cattle farmers in Matabeleland have welcomed the expansion of the Ministry of Agriculture, which has seen President Robert Mugabe appointing, for the first time ever, two deputy ministers to the portfolio.
One of the deputies is responsible for crop production while the other is in charge of livestock production.

President Mugabe last week reappointed Joseph Made to the Ministry of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation together with two deputies, Davis Marapira, in charge of cropping, mechanisation and irrigation development and Paddy Zhanda responsible for livestock production.
Matabeleland cattle farmers have been accusing government of promoting crop production at the expense of livestock. Last year, they called for the splitting of the agriculture budget between crop farming and livestock production.

Both cereals and livestock have dismally performed since the 2000 chaotic land reform.  
However, last week cattle farmers said they were happy that the President had finally appointed someone in his government to specifically look into livestock matters.
The drought-prone Matabeland region favours cattle ranching and in the 1980s and 1990s was referred to as the Brazil of Zimbabwe.

“We are actually happy that we now have someone in government that specialises in livestock meaning to say our livestock issues can now be easily tabled before the right person,” said Donald Khumalo, past president of the Zimbabwe Commercial Farmers Union .
Khumalo said they expected much from Zhanda whom he said has a strong farming background and understands the sector.
He said the appointment of Zhanda marked the beginning of serious business in cattle ranching, adding that they still expected the budget allocation to the agriculture ministry to be split between crop and livestock production.

Matabeleland Livestock Investment Initiative  chairperson, Sifiso Sibanda, who said they received the appointment of Zhanda with a “warm heart”, said they were looking forward to work with him in harnessing resources for the sector.
“Very soon we will be convening a livestock indaba where we will lobby government and financial institutions to inject resources into livestock production,” said Sibanda. 
“Remember we had called for the splitting of the agriculture budget into two — between cereals production and livestock — and we are still of that view.”
Sibanda said they wanted to transform cattle ranching from being a hobby into a fully commercialised sector, restoring the vibrancy of the country’s ailing beef industry.
“We want the new Deputy Minister to immediately lobby the Minister of Finance to release funds for stocking and restocking,” Sibanda said. At the moment there is limited funding for agriculture and whatever is available is short-term owing to liquidity problems in the country.

Sibanda said the region had not recovered 60 percent of cattle lost in the 2003 drought.
Matabeleland South provincial livestock specialist, Simangaliphi Ngwabi, said about the appointment of Zhanda: “It was a wonderful move; it shows livestock will get attention. We are so happy that at last government has heard our cry.”
Ngwabi challenged the new Deputy Minister to immediately address the issue of paddocks and fences along the highways to avoid continued loss of cattle on the country’s roads.
She said there was need for Zhanda to look into the issue of resuscitating collapsed cattle breeding schemes such as the Tuli Cattle Breeding Scheme in Gwanda, to ensure farmers produce quality beef that meets international standards.
“Remember we used to export quality beef into Europe but since 2000 no one has ever cared about the quality of our meat; we are no longer  concerned with that,” she bemoaned.
Nyamazana Auctioneers director, Jonathan Nsingo, said he was pleased that the government was now taking livestock farming seriously. Nyamazana auctioneers auctions cattle in Matabeleland South.
“However, the new Deputy Minister responsible for livestock must not stay in Harare; he should come down here in Matabeleland South where the cattle are,” he said.
Meanwhile, the livestock situation, in the province, which last year lost over 9 000 cattle to drought, is already dire although no drought related deaths have been recorded to date.
Ngwabi said the Department of Livestock Production in the province was cutting hay in Shangani and distributing it across the seven districts but said faced transport constraints.