admin Khuphuka Nasingeni
I am not a fan of farming stuff, I prefer to stay indoors and whine about everything thata��s wrong with those outdoors trying to eke a living through working the land. I have been jolted out of my false sense of security though by events of the past few weeks. A�
The maize bucket price has gone up and shows no sign of letting up on its ascent. I hear that we are in the grip of a major drought and newspapers have been telling me to brace for water shedding at some point.
However, at times such as these, hope is all we have and the weather forecasters have provided lots to cheer about, with news that rainfall was expected soon and that our season would be normal. The modern forecasters have spoken and we now keenly await our traditional forecasters so that we can compare and see what message to send to our grannies and uncles as they prepare for the farming season.
Maybe the rains could just bring the fire season to a quick halt. The smoke from farming areas would make one almost think we have suddenly moved all our industries to the farms from where they are spewing copious amounts of smoke. Also, the rains may just help drown the stench from some of our streams that have accumulated a lot of sewage whose concentration is so high due to the shortage of water. I remember the global excitement that the big flush made some years ago, and with water shedding imminent, there is no prize for guessing what will be making the headlines!
In Mutare they do not seem to have problems with water levels in such streams, if a story about one prophet-turned-fugitive is anything to go by. The young prophet, facing allegations of attempted rape, fled from the police who spotted him walking past a road block, and gave chase.A� He dived into a sewage pool and dared an officer to arrest him if he could swim.
We are short of triathlon athletes and this propheta��s exploits on land and in water (oops) would make him a medal hopeful! Give him a bike to test his biking so he puts his skills to better use.
And those that claim to have supernatural connections fail their followers in a big way when they fail to foresee very simple matters.A� For instance, this prophet walks past a roadblock and is spotted.A� One would have thought his spiritual antenna would have picked enemy signals by the checkpoint.
As if that is not enough, in Harare technology beat the supernatural when a man caught his wife on a sangomaa��s bed after using the vehiclea��s tracker. He ridiculed the sangoma for having failed to see spiritually that he was on his way.
Are these prophets and sangomas past their expiry dates, I wonder?
I challenge them to give us useful rainfall forecasts or forever hold their peace!
Still on rainfall prospects, we hear farmers need to develop resilience and cope with climate change. Just recently we read in the Press that farmers needed to do more to meet goat meat demand, then later we heard chicken production had declined this year.
I want to whisper some options to versatile farmers. Donkeys are some of the most drought resistant animals and in Zimbabwe they are used as draught power. Let me put a disclaimer, that I shall not be held responsible for any over harvesting of the beast of burden if adventurous farmers take up the offer. You see, Niger, that North African country, has banned the export of donkeys to China.
This is a market that even ZimTrade has not made known to you good farmers . . . I normally charge for such information but I have more market intelligence that I will charge for soon.
My call to farmers is that they must fill the void left by Niger quickly but our draught power needs should not be compromised.A� We hear the donkey skins are in great demand out there.
We hear donkey skin is boiled and added to other tonics that cure coughs, relieve insomnia and revitalise the blood.
Before the ban, 80 000 donkeys had been shipped to China this year, up from 27 000 last year.
Figures for Burkina Faso rose from 1 000 last year to 27 000 in the first quarter of 2016.A� We hear a donkey abattoir opened in Kenya in April to cater for the Chinese market.A�A� In Niger local prices have risen from $34 to $147.A� Let us secure our borders as with such demand our drought resistant donkey resource is at risk.
SPCA should join me in this campaign to increase the value of the donkey so that no one abuses these beasts.A� Each time they beat the donkey and scratch the animal they would also feel the pain of hurting their foreign currency receipts(or is it bond notes earnings)!
Online Reporter