Rescuing Zimbabwe’s livestock industry
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
January 25, 2013 in Opinion
Among the many sectors of Zimbabwe’s economy that have declined
progressively over the years is agriculture which, until the millennium 12
years ago, was thriving and was the key foundation of the economy.
Opinion by Eric Bloch
Agricultural production was not only of very great substance, but was also
impressively varied, and included tobacco, maize, wheat and diverse other
grains as well as cotton, citrus, sugar, and much else.
One of the very significant elements of the country’s agriculture was
livestock, which was not only the mainstay of rural communities, but also
serviced the requirements of the urban populace and was a major contributor
to Zimbabwe’s exports (within the region, and to markets in the European
Union).
Tragically, however, all of Zimbabwean agriculture has very markedly
declined, and that includes the livestock sector. A major contributor to the
decline was the racist ousting,from the turn of the century onwards, of most
of the very experienced and highly productive established farmers.
The economic devastation triggered by that action by the State was
intensified, and maximised by the simultaneous withdrawal of all rights of
title and ownership to the lands, precluding newly-settled farmers from
access to funding necessary for the conduct of their farming operations, as
they were rendered devoid of any collateral value required to access loans.
Compounding the decimation of agriculture has, during the past decade, been
several years of very adverse climatic conditions, occasioning an
insufficiency of water resources in general, and minimised recourse to
irrigation (exacerbated by the extent that much of the country’s irrigation
infrastructure had been cannabilised and disposed of by newly-settled
farmers, and such systems as continue to exist also limited in usage in
consequence of erratic availability of energy).
Yet another major contributor to the decline in agriculture has been the
diminution in production by communal farmers, and that has resulted in very
considerable hardships and poverty for innumerable villagers residing in the
communal areas.
Some of the negative effects of the decline in livestock rearing has been
the consequential diminution of export operations, and the reduced
supply-driven rises in prices for domestic consumers, and the adverse
impacts upon Zimbabwe’s already considerable trade deficit. The Cold Storage
Company imports much beef and beef products from Botswana, intensifying
hardships for rural communities. With that in mind, this columnist
recognised the substance of a recent submission to him by one reader, who
wrote:
“Large numbers of communal cattle are dying during the present season,
blamed upon the drought. During (that contributor’s 56 years in
Matabeleland) there were several droughts like the present one. In
commercial farming, however, livestock survived under proper veld
management. Grass eaten by cattle is shallow-rooted, and will produce
sufficient leaves with a rainfall of approximately 100 mm. This leaf matter
must be looked after to sustain livestock during both rainy and dry seasons.
The present set-up in the communal areas, on village level, is the available
land around the dwellings. The communal grazing area is shared by all. The
animals are released from their kraals after milking, into the communal
grazing areas. Some are herded by non-school going children and the elderly,
but many are not.
As a result, cattle stray into available land. To prevent this, an average
of 50 trees are cut down for fences, which fences are replaced every two to
three years. Minister Sipepa Nkomo has said seven million trees are cut
annually.
Fencing of lands probably accounts for half of that figure. The number of
animals per owner varies, ranging from 900 to 300, 50, 20,10 and for others
five.
The big number owners employ herdsmen, but with most cattle being let out in
the morning and brought in at night. The animals go for the sweet grasses
and move on. There is no controlled grazing for them, and once the dry
season arrives there is no more grazing available, and cattle starve to
death. Survivors are in such poor condition that it takes the whole incoming
rainy season to make up for the weight loss.”
The reader, who succinctly summarised that major constraint upon the
wellbeing of millions of villagers, did not only identify a pronounced
reason for the diminution of effective livestock breeding and wellbeing in
communal centres, but also suggests ways of improving grazing in communal
lands. He suggested that:
Firstly, there should be formation of livestock associations at village
level. “Members should contribute financially for the employment of
herdsmen, being one or more, depending on the number of animals to be looked
after. One of the herdsmen should be trained to identify and treat diseases
and illnesses at an early stage, and in the use of vaccines, antibiotics and
other basic veterinary methods, as early diagnosis and treatment saves lives
and more than offsets the cost of employing the herdsmen.
Secondly, as a policy of short duration, high density grazing,should be
pursued. The aim of this is to force the animals to graze all the plants at
a given time, to give the sweet annual grasses a chance to reproduce through
seeding.”
The third recommended action depends upon the number of animals in the herd.
The available grazing area should be subdivided appropriately (say 50
animals per five hectares). In doing so, the condition of the grazing must
be considered. Although ideal, fencing the divisions would be too costly,
but instead painted poles can be used, at distances of, say, 50 metres, or
closer in wooded country, dependent upon the condition of the grazing land.”
The reader giving this advice recognises that this is “just a basic outline”
of the project of enhanced utilisation of grazing, and that “the main task
is to convince communities of the necessity to reverse the condition of
hope, but inadequate or ineffective maximisation of available grazing, as
presently prevails in very many areas.”
However, as simplistic and basic as these measures are, the Ministry of
Agriculture and the Council of Chiefs should vigorously promote their
implementation, although concurrently Zimbabwe must intensively develop dams
and concomitant irrigation schemes wheresoever potentially viable,
throughout the country, for the benefit of both commercial and communal
farmers. In so doing, urgent attention is needed to address the massive
over-siltation of very many dams and rivers, the refurbishment of such
irrigation systems as still exist, and the development of new dams and
irrigation facilities wheresoever possible.
Doing so will enhance both commercial and communal farming, and a partial
recovery of Zimbabwe’s decimated agricultural sector.
In the event Government restores collateral value to Zimbabwe’s rural lands,
agriculture will become a major contributor, and probably the foremost one,
to the long-awaited economic recovery so greatly needed for the wellbeing of
Zimbabweans.