Editorial Comment: Restocking of the national herd should be prioritised

a means of transport for farmers in communal and commercial farming areas. It is for this reason that efforts to rebuild the national cattle herd must be taken seriously. Government and its partners should drive the restocking programme.
Restocking is often viewed as the primary method of rehabilitating the small-scale farming sector, usually after disaster but we believe that restocking should be seen as a means of development and not just in response to disasters, like drought. There is no denying the fact that restocking is a means of improving household food security.
It is thus disturbing to note that there has not been any Government scheme to cover cattle production since 1997 when the only scheme run by the Cold Storage Company collapsed.
Livestock production is no different from crop production and if the Government can inject money in cropping, we see no reason why it should not do the same for cattle production.
Every year, the Government and its partners provide crop inputs for farmers in the various sectors and nothing is done for cattle production yet cattle play a critical role in the communal and small-scale farming sectors in terms of providing draught power.
We have witnessed cattle providing tillage to farmers in the absence of mechanisation, and income through the sale of milk and in the process helped many people to achieve household food security. We used to earn millions in foreign currency through beef exports to the EU but the quota has since fallen away because of our inability to supply owing to the dwindling herd and the outbreak of the foot and mouth disease (FMD).
What is needed to initiate cattle restocking programmes is funding, which the Government and the private sector, especially banks, should consider providing. The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe tried to play its part in national cattle rebuilding by running a cattle programme between 2004 and 2007, providing heifers to farmers countrywide.
However, because of the sanctions-induced economic meltdown, most farmers resorted to pen fattening the cattle for resale to abattoirs to earn some money to cater for other pressing needs. At the moment the national cattle herd stands at 5,2 million against a target of 5,8 million set last year. 
It must be noted that communal farmers own the bulk of the cattle, which are, however, not for commercial purposes. Given this scenario, there is need for grassroots investments by Government to transform communal cattle ranching into commercial.
The success of such an initiative hinges on focusing on technology and doing something about the high cost of feed. There was talk early last year of the launch of a bank that would extend loans to farmers to breed cattle.
The initiative created a lot of excitement among farmers as they considered it a right step towards rebuilding the cattle herd.
Sadly, to date, nothing has materialised and the launch of the bank, then scheduled for March last year, has not taken place. It is good to note that there have been some organisations and individuals that have taken it upon themselves to rebuild the cattle herd.
We commend the efforts of Bikita Minerals, which last year embarked on a pilot cattle breeding programme that benefited at least 3 000 rural families in Gutu and Bikita. Zanu-PF has also played its part by donating bulls and heifers to several constituencies throughout the country.
Mhondoro-Mubaira legislator, Sylvester Nguni, through efforts by Zanu-PF to boost the national cattle herd, launched a cattle-breeding programme in his constituency last year and followed it up a few weeks ago by donating at least 10 bulls.
There have also been efforts towards rebuilding the cattle herd by Chegutu East legislator Webster Shamu, who late last year launched a programme for cows to be artificially inseminated to produce high quality calves.
These programmes are a step in the right direction but it is our conviction that the Government needs to do much more in livestock development.