Drought hits cattle, children

Livestock, including cattle, sheep and goats are dying in Botswana as drought tightens its grip on Botswana, while a growing number of children suffer malnutrition, according to the latest quarterly Botswana Food Security report.

At the end of July, most districts, except for Tonota, Tati and Tutume in the Francistown region, had reported a deficit of cereals. Maize dealers had imported 36 percent of their annual import forecast, while imports of sorghum rose to 7 percent and wheat imports remained at the level of 9 percent, added the report.

The report said most dams had dried up and livestock was reported to be watered mainly from underground boreholes. Although most districts had ample but very dry and non-nutritious grass species, said the report, areas of Serowe were experiencing completely depleted and bare land where cattle depend on leaves for food.

In areas such as Bokspits, Francindam, Omaweneno, Makopong and Tsabong had no grazing at all, prompting the Department of Animal Health and Production to comment that unless supplementary feed was provided, a high number of livestock would die. Already deaths and abortions in small stock were reported in parts of Molepolole and Syria, said the report.

The report also pointed out that the stock levels of maize at the end of June stood at 9,632 mt and about 8,205 mt of the maize was held by the Botswana Agricultural Marketing Board (BAMB) and the country’s millers. The report said wheat importers were holding huge carry-over stock of 62,258 mt, which explains the low import rate, adding that 43,689 mt of the wheat was commercially held.

The rates of malnutrition in children under the age of five, according to the report, had increased from 11.7 percent to 13.1 percent between June and July. The report said that in July intra-district variation ranged from 4 percent in the northwest of the country to 21.6 percent in Bobirwa, adding that other districts had total malnutrition rates that are above the national average.