Successive droughts have continued to take their toll on communities in Beitbridge that rely on livestock production for a living amid indications that a total of 4 500 cattle in the district succumbed to drought-related deaths during the last farming season.

In an interview on Friday, Beitbridge East legislator, Cde Albert Nguluvhe said it was sad to note that some people continued to lose their major source of livelihood.

He said the state of pastures and access to water remained a challenge in the area.

Cde Nguluvhe said the farmers must embrace the Government’s call for them to start procuring their own fodder to supplement the limited pastures.

“I urge the farmers to take note of the current changes in climate patterns, which have become a headache for most of the community members.

“They must embrace the initiative to grow their own fodder crops to supplement the limited stock feeds and poor grazing pastures,” he said.

Cde Nguluvhe said it was also advisable for the farmers to sell old or undernourished cattle to procure supplementary feeding and vaccines for the healthy animals.

“They need to grow legumes and other fodder crops like katambora and banner grass, velvet beans, and lucerne,” said Cde Nguluvhe.

He encouraged farmers to practise good animal husbandry initiatives such as dehorning, castration, proper dosing, effective tick control and proper livestock feeding regimes.

Already some farmers are venturing into fodder production. Klein Karoo and the department of crops and livestock production have since contracted 52 farmers to produce velvet beans seed in Beitbridge.

Caritas Masvingo is reportedly co-ordinating the initiative, while other small scale farmers are using their own resources.

Beitbridge has an estimated 200 000 cattle, 150 000 goats, 90 000 sheep and 40 000 donkeys.