Chronicle Editor
Mhlupheki Dube
POPULATION expansion and possibly increases in stocking rates is putting pressure on communal lands as grazing lands become smaller and inadequate for smallholder livestock farmers.
This is generally true for most rural areas such that livestock farmers who find themselves with herds that require more grazing than they have, end up seeking rental spaces from those with extra grazing lands especially in the resettlement areas. However, even the resettlement areas are getting to full carrying capacity as most of the land owners have either built their herds over the years or are hosting other herds on rental basis. Land being a finite and inelastic resource means livestock farmers have to adopt proactive solutions to solve the grazing lands challenges.
While most areas are shrinking in grazing lands because of human settlement expansion, it should be acknowledged that in other areas livestock farmers have simply let some grazing lands degenerate into unusable state. This is very true in most districts of Matabeleland North, where a lot of grazing lands have been lost to proliferation of invasive vegetation species like the Lantana camara. There is also loss of the veld to increase in woody species especially the secondary vegetation in abandoned cropping fields.
We have a lot of previously crop fields that have been invaded by mostly thorny acacia species. Then there are thick bushy areas that have been left to suffocate any undergrowth such that besides being impermeable because of tree density, they have almost zero grass growing underneath due to the canopy effect of the tree leaves that prevent penetration of light.
These bush areas have grown mostly because of prohibitive regulations regarding cutting down of trees. All the three scenarios that affect some rangelands can be reversed and some grazing lands reclaimed. Some communities are already doing that. Some communities in Matabeleland North have been recorded as carrying out reclamation of their grazing lands from the invasive Lantana camara.
A lot of grazing land has been reclaimed from clearing out this invasive weed. Lantana camara has colonised some rangelands rendering them totally unusable and therefore it is imperative that livestock farmers in the affected areas take the initiative to clear out the weed and free the grazing land.
Large vast tracks of land which are buried under the Lantana camara can be usable again if farmers clear this weed.
The same modus operandi can be adopted for the secondary thorny vegetation that has colonised mostly the abandoned cropping fields.
There are vast lands which were abandoned by the owners as the land got exhausted and infertile for crop production. These lands have been used for grazing as lots of grass would grow on them. However, secondary vegetation has colonised such lands rendering them impenetrable and animals can hardly graze on this land save for small stock.
This land can also be reclaimed by simply clearing out the secondary vegetation to allow for undergrowth and access by animals that need to graze the lands. The import of this week instalment therefore is that livestock farmers need to take active action to create rangelands for their animals. They need to identify such rangelands that simply need reclamation and take action to rectify the situation.
Large acres of land can be freed by communities simply identifying affected areas and taking action to remove either the invasive species such as Lantana camara or woody species that are suffocating the undergrowth. Instead of losing the land to a plant species which we don’t even use for anything in the community, we would rather come together and take active action to clear it out so that our livestock can find more grazing space. I know places in Matabeleland South that have suffered effects of bush encroachment especially thorny shrubs, the same approach can be adopted.
It is my view that while we need to conserve trees as a principle, a balance need to be found so that trees do not end up stifling growth of grasses because of tree densities.
UyabongaumntakaMaKhumalo.
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