Govt interventions save 50K cattle from starvation File Picture of a health herd: However the country has lost about 4 000 cattle from June to date due to unavailability of feed and water.

Edgar Vhera, Agriculture Specialist Writer

THE livestock drought action committee (LDAC) has saved 50 000 cattle from poverty death due to El Nino-induced drought by providing feed and water in some distressed districts in agro-ecological regions four and five.

This was disclosed by national livestock drought mitigation coordinator Mr Aaron Muchazivepi recently while giving an update on LDAC   activities after acquiring 15 000 tonnes of feed from Dendairy.

“At an average feeding rate of two kilogrammes per beast per day we have saved 50 000 cattle from the 3 000 tonnes we have disbursed to date to farmers in some districts.

“We are looking at distressed wards mainly in natural regions four and five areas of Matabeleland North and South, Midlands and Manicaland provinces,” he said.

He said movement of feed had been done in Tsholotsho, Umguza, Lupane and Nkayi districts of Matabeleland North while its southern counterpart province distributed to Bulilima, Insiza, Gwanda, Matopo, Mangwe and Umzingwane districts.

In Midlands, feed had been moved to Mberengwa, Gokwe, Kwekwe, Shurugwi, with Masvingo’s Chivi, Chiredzi, Mwenezi, Zaka and Gutu also getting their share, he added.

The LDAC is targeting areas that do not have water and grazing, with the Grain Marketing Board (GMB) in charge of movement of feed. Farmers are also assisting by mobilising transport at ward level for movement of feed.

For improved coordination, 1 620 drought mitigation centres (DMC) have been set in rural wards with focal persons in each ward. At these centres farmers are trained on drought mitigation.

“Village business units (VBUs) have been established in these DMC containing one-hectare solarised horticulture gardens, two fish ponds, holding pens and watering and drinking troughs for livestock.

“These DMCs will be used as aggregation centres for selling inputs, produce and livestock,” Mr Muchazivepi said.

The DMCs are also being used to train farmers in urea treatment of stover, making urea molasses blocks (make it possible for animals to digest the products by providing the protein, mineral and vitamin components).

At DMC farmers are taught to make rations from treated and untreated stover, crushed/spoiled grain, cotton seed meal, acacia (masekesa) and molasses.

The country has lost about 4 000 cattle from June to date due to unavailability of feed and water.

Government is also drilling boreholes in these distressed wards for provision of water to both humans and livestock.

“Currently the Zimbabwe National Water Authority (ZINWA) is drilling and equipping these DMCs with 315 solar-powered boreholes.

“We are also mapping out farms with wheat stover/straws and Government has since issued a statutory instrument requiring all the harvested wheat straw to be used as animal feed,” he pointed out.

Government is also in the process of getting browse plus that will aid in the digestion of fibrous products that might be available, like leaves.

We have a tracking and programming database with all the country’s rural wards to direct operations to the needy areas in terms of the implementation strategy, he added.

The Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development set up the El Nino drought action committee (DAC) on April 29, 2024 comprising the Government, academia, parastatals, private sector and development agencies in response to the 2023/24 El Nino drought.

The DAC, formed eight sub-committees covering each critical pillar chaired by private sector and/or key Government officials.

The sub-committees are for cereals, horticulture, grain mobilisation and strategic grain reserves, water resources and sanitation, irrigation, livestock and fisheries and agriculture engineering, mechanisation and farm infrastructure and development.

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