Poor grazing threatens 150 000 cattle in B/B

Livestock farmers here have raised concern over the shortage of pastures which is threatening the lives of over 150 000 head of cattle. Resettled farmers said the state of pastures had reached alarming levels in some areas and called for the Government and its partners to assist with supplementary stockfeed.

They said the situation had become so dire that some cattle had started dying due to the poor state of pastures.
They added that the situation could get worse should the district receive below average rainfall during the current season.
It is estimated that there are over 150 000 cattle, 150 000 goats, 60 000 sheep, 37 000 donkeys, 5 000 pigs and 40 000 poultry in the district.

Mr Philemon Makhomo of Lot 2 Jopembi village (Tshambengedzeni) said he lost four beasts due to drought.
“So far I have lost four cows and the state of the pastures is very bad,” he said.
Mr Gift Mbedzi said the worst affected areas were Wards 11 and 14 in Beitbridge West constituency.

He said the situation had been worsened by the receding water table which has also triggered water shortages for their livestock.

“In our area there is still some dry grass here and there but no rainfall as yet and the water table is getting low and water is now a very big issue. However, we haven’t recorded any deaths due to drought as yet but it is a matter of time if we do not receive the rains soon.

“It is very important for stockfeed suppliers to have some emergency depots in the rural areas and farms because transport is expensive and scarce as a result of the fuel situation. You will note that transporting a 50kg bag of stockfeed to farms costs about $5,” said Mr Herbert Zhou of Kleinbegin resettlement areas (Ward 13) under Beitbridge East con- stituency.

Recently the Environmental Management Agency (EMA) reported that it had cleared a total of 1 620 hectares of alien invader species, Opuntia fulgida (jumping chollla), which is threatening pastures in Matabeleland South province.

It is reported that in the last seven years, the weed had spread rapidly over 3 000 hectares of grazing land in six administrative districts.
The province has an estimated head of 600 0000 cattle.

EMA spokesperson for Matabeleland South Mrs Sithembokhuhle Moyo said they had cleared 56 percent of the affected area with the assistance of villagers.

“The worst affected districts are Gwanda and Beitbridge where a total of 2 265 hectares and 579 hectares were lost respectively.
“Other areas are Mangwe (12ha), Matobo (35ha), Bulilima (25ha) and Insiza with 2,5ha.

“At the moment villagers in the affected areas are cutting the plant and burying the material deep before it spreads to the grazing lands,” she said.