admin
Conrad Mupesa
Mashonaland West Bureau
IN a bid to fight tick-borne diseases and ring-fence the community’s source of wealth in line with Zimbabwe’s Livestock Recovery Plan, Sanyati Member of Parliament Cde Polite Kambamura has joined hands with the community to construct and rehabilitate dip tanks in the area.
The Livestock Growth Plan seeks to address a number of challenges that are constraining livestock production, productivity and profitability.
The plan targets to ameliorate challenges in the key areas of animal health, animal genetics, animal nutrition, and other related parameters.
To see the plan coming to fruition, Cde Kambamura has since 2021 providing cement, roofing material, transport and funding for the construction of the dip tanks while the community provides labour and bricks.
Cde Kambamura is also complementing Government efforts by supplying dip tanks with required dipping chemicals.
A target of two dip tanks per ward, has been mooted with the mutual understanding now bearing fruits as at least five dip tanks are now functional.
Dip tanks have also been constructed in Wards 9, 10 and 11 where the legislator has drilled boreholes at each facility to reduce the distance travelled by villagers to fetch water for cattle dipping.
Mrs Tsigirai Marume of Chirikiti Village in Sanyati’s Ward 8, who lost her livestock herd to anthrax and January Disease in 2020, thanked Cde Kambamura for his timely gesture.
She lost nearly all her cattle during a wave of the two diseases that swept throughout the country decimating cattle particularly in Mhondoro, Chegutu, Hurungwe and some other districts of Zimbabwe.
While she and her husband had hope of disposing of some of the beasts to pay school fees and purchase inputs and property, the option was short-lived.
The couple looked helplessly as their creatures died one after the other within a short space of time.
Recounting the horror, Mrs Marume said she lost two cows in a single day.
“Almost every villager here lost heavily to the diseases. I lost two beasts in just one day. This became common here in 2020 and 2021. We were badly affected,” she said.
The area is close to Chegutu 6 Game Area and lumpskin disease had become rampant as domestic animals mix with buffaloes and other animals from the conservancy area.
Other villagers in the area including Mrs Ellen Mhanya who is still counting losses from the outbreaks of the disease, blamed the few and dilapidated diptanks in the area.
She too, lost cattle to the outbreaks of disease.
Before the drilling and installation of a bush-pump borehole at Makwechere dip tank, Mrs Marume and other villagers would travel a distance of about 10 kilometres to fetch water.
Makwechere diptank is currently serving at least 23 villages including Musona, Mupozhori, Chiyangwa and Machokoto.
Musona village head Mr Philip Musona said the borehole drilled at the dip tank saved villagers from his area from walking more than 5km to fetch water to fill up the tanks.
“At least 23 villages are benefitting from the dip tank. In my village, 180 households have started seeing the benefits of this new facility,” he said.
The dip tank chairman, Mr Elisha Kuchicha (42) said over 3 000 cattle use the dip tank.
The previous dip tank, adjacent to the new one, would leak large volumes of water through cracks created by aging.
The pro-developmental initiatives by the community and Cde Kambamura has also been lauded by Ms Marjoury Jambo an Agritex officer who usually interacts with villagers every day.
She was optimistic that the dip tanks will see an increase in livestock production which would subsequently raise the areas’ crop production bar.
Cde Kambamura reaffirmed his commitment is ensuring that his constituency has enough dip tanks.
“We want to ensure that each ward has at least two dip tanks to lessen the distance travelled by villagers. Villagers must not travel long distances to have dip their cattle,” he said.
Provincial veterinary services director, Dr Thokozani Mswela said the distance travelled to a dip tank has to be less than 10km and no more than 1 500 cattle using a single dip tank.
“In Mashonaland West, this is however a difficult situation since we are faced with livestock diseases. We have even reduced that number to 300 per dip tank,” said Dr Mswela.
Cde Kambamura has also helped construct and rehabilitate dip tanks at Maviru, Munyati and Nyaunde districts.
Online Reporter