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Cletus Mushanawani
News Editor
GOVERNMENT’S efforts to save the national herd from theileriosis, commonly referred to as January disease, has resulted in a 47 percent decrease of cattle mortality during the last three months, The Manica Post has established.
The country has lost more than 500 000 beasts worth US$150 million due to the disease during the past three years.
Speaking at the launch of the Livestock Production Systems-Zimbabwe (LIPS-ZIM) project in Buhera last week on Friday; Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Resettlement Minister, Dr Anxious Masuka said the country has since taken delivery of 600 000kgs of tick grease for distribution in the 25 districts identified as epicentres of the January disease.
“From the period 2017 to 2020, the country lost 500 000 cattle worth a whopping US$150m and this is unacceptable. This is why Government has responded by ensuring the procurement of tick grease for one million households.
“So far, we have received 600 000kgs of this tick grease for distribution in the epicentres of the January disease. As a result of this Government intervention, from November to the end of February, we have managed to reduce cattle mortality by 47 percent.
“As part of the livestock development plan, we will rehabilitate 4 000 dip tanks. Where water is not available, boreholes will be drilled,” said Dr Masuka.
Under the envisaged Presidential Rural Horticulture Scheme, Government intends to drill 35 000 boreholes across the country.
He said Government is also finalising the Presidential Rural Poultry Scheme, where each household will receive roadrunners and then aggregate them for sale.
“The livestock growth plan seeks to transform the livestock sector from the US$960m worth of livestock that we currently have to over US$1.9 billion by end of 2025.
“One million households have cattle, while 1.3 million households have goats and 1.5 million out of the 1.8 million rural households own chickens. Therefore poultry is the biggest source of protein for Zimbabweans,” he said.
Despite animal diseases, Government has also identified inbreeding and depleted pastures as some of the factors affecting livestock in the country.
Inbreeding refers to the production of offspring from the mating of animals that are closely related genetically, which tends to increase the appearance of recessive traits.
“Inbreeding has seen our livestock getting smaller and smaller. We have to introduce better genetics to improve the quality of the animals.
“Over the years, pastures have also depleted and we have a robust programme to ensure that these pastures are rehabilitated. We will come up with more demo plots in various areas,” he said.
Dr Masuka said as a ministry, they have set targets to ensure that the country becomes food sufficient.
“We also want the 1.8 million rural households to each receive 10 fruit trees, according to their ecological areas. For each village, there will be a nutritional garden.
“Going forward, whether we have rains or not, the nation should be food sufficient. We want to eliminate food imports. Annually, Zimbabwe imports food, feed and other consumables worth between US$600m and US$800m. lf we produce sufficient food, we should be able to redirect that money to other national needs, including health, schools and paying civil servants.
“We are exporting primary products and therefore we are exporting value and jobs. When we export a kilogramme of cotton as lint, we are exporting seven times more value. When farmers sell their cotton and go to the next shop to purchase cooking oil, they are purchasing their own product, so we need to look at value addition,” he said.
On employment creation, Dr Masuka said the agricultural sector should be run as Small to Medium Enterprises, with all resettled farmers creating employment.
“The 18 000 A2 farmers in the country need to transform agriculture and become business people. lf each of them is to employ 10 people, that will be 200 000 jobs created.
“We have 360 000 A1 farmers and if we transform them into SMEs and each one employs just two people, 760 000 jobs will be created. If well structured, agriculture can employ one million people by 2025,” said Dr Masuka.
“As we journey towards 2030, we must transform the way we do things,” said Dr Masuka.
Online Reporter