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Elita Chikwati Agriculture Reporter
Government is negotiating with banks to come up with a facility that will enable farmers to access loans using cattle as collateral, a senior official has said.

Officiating at a livestock field day at Mountain Home Farm in Mazowe on Thursday, Agriculture Mechanisation and Irrigation Development Deputy Minister Paddy Zhanda, said the ministry was holding talks with banks and insurance companies to come up with a funding facility.

“Farmers have cattle, but are failing to access funding from banks as they do not have the required forms of security.

“Cattle are an asset which can be used by farmers to access loans from banks and this is the reason why we have engaged banks and insurance companies to come up with a solution. Farmers should unlock the value in their cattle,” he said.

Deputy Minister Zhanda encouraged farmers in livestock production to take their enterprises as serious and profitable business.

“Farmers should take agriculture as a serious business. Livestock farmers should concentrate on improving productivity and not the number of the herd. They should concentrate on how much milk they realise from their animals and the quality of beef.

“We have 5,3 million cattle in Zimbabwe and these are enough. There is no need to increase the national herd, but we should work on improving the quality of the animals.

“The national calving rate is at 48 percent, which is not good. We should have a calving rate of 80 percent,” he said.

Cde Zhanda encouraged farmers to sell unproductive cattle and use the money to buy better breeds that were highly productive.

“Farmers should also keep records on their livestock so they will be able to tell the productive and the unproductive.

“It is not wise to keep unproductive cattle. It is better to sell the unproductive animals and buy better breeds that are productive,” he said.

He said the indigenous Tuli, Ngoni and Shona were good breeds as they adapted well to the environment, but required good management to increase productivity.

Livestock producer, Mr George Chitsva, who hosted the field day is into beef production.

He was resettled in 2002 on a 173-hectare farm and has 124 cattle, 29 sheep, 464 goats, 90 pigs, several rabbits and chickens.

“As farmers, we have challenges accessing markets and we hope this area will be addressed for our enterprises to be viable,” he said.

The farmer also grows tobacco, maize, soyabeans and sugar beans among other crops.

Mr Chitsva complained of challenges such as poor markets and shortage of grazing pasture.

“I work with local veterinary officers who assist me on some of the operations. Livestock production is more viable than crop production,” he said.