931 cattle succumb to drought
AGRICULTURE REPORTER
Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development, Professor Obert Jiri said 931 cattle have so far succumbed with over 2.8m cattle are at risk as a result of the drought that ravaged Zimbabwe and Southern Africa during the 2023/2024 summer cropping season.
Professor Jiri said efforts are being intensified to avoid more deaths.
“We want to say that no livestock must die under our watch. However, we’re seeing that out there some livestock are already dying and this is why this is a clarion call to ensure that we arrest the succumbing of livestock to drought,” said Prof Jiri.
The drought mitigation command center will track dire and critical wards and establish the urgent needs in each of these areas.We must know how much water is there, how many livestock are there, and how much feed is left in those critical wards,” Prof Jiri said.
Government has since established a drought mitigation command center to coordinate initiatives targeted at saving livestock currently faced with the worst of conditions, due to the El Nino-induced drought that affected availability of water and feed.
The command center will also mobilise feed and water and liaise with the focal person in each ward.
“The command centre will liaise with that focal person to assess the situation in each ward. So in essence, there will be a daily situation report regarding each and every one of those critical wards. This command centre will also liaise with the ward focal person to conscientise farmers to look after their cattle.
“Some of the situations that we are faced with are simply because farmers may not be paying particular attention to cattle at this particular time.
“We know that most of the cattle are really just browsing out there in the wild. But farmers must attend to their cattle, so that they don’t just wander and look for water, particularly in those muddy areas,” said PS Jiri.
“Remember the cattle are in a lean situation, their condition is not the best. Once they are faced with a stressful situation, they would ordinarily succumb.
“So we encourage these focal persons to conscientise farmers to attend to their cattle, fetch water for them and bring the water to the cattle, rather than the cattle going to the muddy places and getting stuck and having no energy to come out, they then succumb.”
As part of the initiatives to save cattle, the ministry has also mobilised livestock feed, and currently has access to 15,000 metric tonnes of silage of which at least 500 metric tonnes have already been moved to some of the critical districts such as Matopo, Umguza, Tsholotsho, Lupane, Bubi, Zaka, Chivi, Gutu, Gokwe, Mberengwa, and that process is continuing.
“We have also mobilized some hay, and that is also moving to some areas. We have also rolled out a program where we are training farmers to do urea treatment of their stover,” the PS said.
Supplementation with Urea Molasses Blocks (UMB) can increase digestibility of fibrous feeds by up to 20%, increase the nutrients the animal receives and can increase feed intake by 25 to 30%.
If another good quality protein source such as cottonseed is added to the block, the animal will grow faster.
Animals also benefit if other feedstuffs such as vitamins, minerals, etc. are added to the block. Blocks are an easy way to make and store molasses and urea and also feed to animals. They can easily be made and used in villages.“We appeal to the private sector and development partners.
“Some have already come through and attended to situations in Bikita, Mutare, Mwenezi, among other areas. So most of the partners are also implementing these drought measures that we are doing including provision of feed, water and more importantly establishing Village Business Units (VBUs) and drought mitigation centres across the wards where they w.ork,” Prof Jiri said.