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Lenin Ndebele
In the digital world that we live in today, Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) should play a central role in different aspects of our lives.This should include livestock management as well otherwise cattle owners will become poorer due to thefts of their stock.
Last week there were reports that about 54 head of cattle were stolen in the Midlands province through a carefully planned syndicate involving the use of fake cattle clearance certificates.
As most of us Zimbabweans have a strong rural background, we treasure our livestock because they play an important role in the agricultural and rural economies.
Not only do they produce food directly and enhance social status, they also provide key inputs during cropping. Most villages in Zimbabwe are too small to justify owning or using a tractor, let alone afford buying one, so the alternative is animal power.
In addition to the above, for many smallholder farmers, livestock are the only ready source of cash to buy inputs for crop production.
But with many villagers losing their cattle just like in the case of villagers in the Midlands of late, we could be headed for disaster unless relevant authorities such as the Ministry of Agriculture and by extension the Ministry of Information Communication Technology, Postal and Courier Services work together to formulate a cattle tracking system.
It is estimated there are about five million cattle countrywide and the highest population is found in Masvingo where it is believed a million of the national herd is found.
The above statistics hardly pass as a fact but a mere estimate from data gathered from district Agritex offices. With cattle being slaughtered, stolen, dying of hunger daily, it becomes impossible to know the exact figure unless there is a technological system put in place.
I strongly believe, with a network system that will involve mobile phone operators, livestock owners, the police and the Ministry of Agriculture, the country would manage to increase its national herd, be able to reduce livestock theft and even be in a better position to monitor the country’s food security.
Security of livestock and identification is the biggest headache for owners and the police. This makes the illegal job of cattle rustlers easy because uphawu a mark or tag that the owner uses to identify his cow can be easily scrapped off.
It is not a surprise that the number of stray cattle that are advertised in the press and then sold is always high because other than uphawu and physically tracking down one’s cattle, there is no other way to locate the stray animals.
Thus, Zimbabwe should not lag behind countries such as Botswana in fully implementing livestock tracking systems that are internet and mobile phone-based.
A tracking system, if taken into account by the Government and relevant stakeholders would be in charge of capturing data such as age, sex, location, breed, estimated value of the cow and even the identification particulars of its past and present owner.
In other countries that have a similar system in place, animals are made to swallow a tracking device called a bolus. This device has all the relevant data about an animal and so a database of all known cattle is kept by the department in charge of livestock.
Basing on the current structure of Zimbabwe’s Ministry of Agriculture, where there is a separate department that entirely deals with livestock and another in charge of crops and irrigation development, such a programme should be easy to manage.
With a database in place, it could be internet-based and all the three mobile networks can be used. Organisations such as Agriculture Marketing Authority (AMA) could find more relevance in the country’s agriculture sector because they could be used to monitor the system alongside rural district councils and police.
Online Reporter