Assistance for drought-hit Matabeleland livestock farmers

Moves are underway to assist vulnerable families with livestock development in the drought-hit Matabeleland South province of Zimbabwe. Siboniso Moyo, director of the Department of Livestock Production and Development, told IRIN on Tuesday that the government's drought mitigation efforts were concentrated in Matabeleland as it was the hardest hit by the recent drought. The department also has plans to begin cattle restocking, as drought had claimed about 100,000 head of cattle in the province, the official Herald newspaper reported on Monday. "Our drought relief and mitigation programme which started in February 2003 is on-going, following the declaration of Matabeleland South as a disaster area," Moyo told IRIN. World Vision had warned in April this year that urgent interventions were needed to address the decimation of livestock and the consequent erosion of household security in the province. "The loss of cattle has depleted the draught power capacity of most communities. Smallholder farmers in Zimbabwe rely heavily upon livestock for ploughing. Livestock losses, and the declining health of remaining stock, seriously impacts agricultural productivity," a World Vision statement said at the time. Zimbabwe's livestock industry has also had to contend with outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease, forcing the Department of Veterinary Services to suspend all movement of livestock in June. In response to the crisis in Matabeleland South, Moyo said her department had "moved into the area and has started a number of interventions". "Firstly, we have encouraged the movement of animals to areas with better grazing within Matabeleland. We could not take them outside the province because of foot-and-mouth disease. Secondly, we have encouraged people to sell some of their animals so they could hold that money [for the upkeep] of draught animals... it could also be used for restocking [later]," she said. Moyo said the Gwanda and Beitbridge districts have been the worst affected by drought in the first quarter of this year. "We have provided stock feed - which people only got in June but which was planned for in March - directly to the people in Beitbridge and Gwanda districts," Moyo said. "But stock feed is expensive, per 50 kilogram bag it costs Zim $18,500 [about US $23], it's a lot really. So the vulnerable households cannot make it without assistance and Matabeleland is a livestock dependent part of the country," Moyo said. She explained that the country experienced a "critical shortage of stock feed" in February and March this year. "Parallel to that we are saying we should start restocking [cattle]. Restocking is going on in other parts of the country, with initial support of up to five animals per household. [But] in Matabeleland South the immediate need is for drought relief and mitigation but we will not lose sight of the fact that we will need to engage in restocking [in the future]," Moyo added. She added that her department's development programmes would also focus on encouraging increased farming of small stock such as chickens, sheep and goats. It was important for long-term sustainability and development that a balance was found between animal grazing requirements and management of pasturelands to prevent over-grazing. "It's a long-term development programme. Any intervention measures we undertake today may only be felt three years down the line," Moyo concluded.