Livestock situation improves

THE state of livestock and pastures has greatly improved in Matabeleland South Province this month following heavy rains affecting most parts of the country, an official said.

Acting Provincial Director Agriculture Rural Development Services, Mkhunjulelwa Ndlovu, said livestock was showing vast improvement as pastures are regaining.

“There is a great improvement on our pastures, which has led to improved livestock quality. The animals, especially cattle which were affected by El-Nino induced drought are now in good shape,” he said.

The Department of Veterinary Services Provincial head, Dr Enat Mdlongwa, also agreed with his counterpart from Agritex, saying animals are no longer in danger as compared to December last year.

“There is marked improvement, in terms of their body condition score. There is a major improvement on pastures, save for Gwanda South District,” he said.

However, the previous droughts saw farmers losing a lot of cattle but now they can afford to smile as their animals are in good conditions.”

The province last received good rains during the 200/2021 season.

Last month, the Government activated the provincial livestock drought taskforce in all the districts of the two Matabeleland provinces after farmers started losing livestock to drought, as the dry spell affected livestock severely.

In December, Dr Mdlongwa was a worried man, pointing out that the province had experienced a surge in livestock deaths due to the dry spell.

Ndlovu described the situation throughout the province, at the time, as “really bad”. His assessment followed an assessment conducted throughout the province.

“All the districts in the province have been severely affected and there is need for immediate attention,” he warned, adding, “Major dams have dried up, leaving animals without water. Some of the boreholes have dried up, leaving people to compete with animals for the few boreholes that are there.

Then, he said, since September many cattle had died from starvation while some were being trapped in mud while in search of dwindling water sources and that the most affected wards were in Matobo District.

In fact, during November and December 2023, Matabeleland provinces lost a staggering 6 500 cattle. Matabeleland South loss was 3 673, while Matabeleland North’s was 2865 cattle.

Farmers in most parts of Matabeleland provinces were losing cattle to drought as most watering points started to dry up against the backdrop of soaring temperatures that were driving high evaporation rates, while water tables were receding.

The Zimbabwe National Water Authority, ZINWA, in a recent statement has said that water levels in most of the country’s major dams are on an upward trend following the recent rainfall activity experienced in parts of the country. However, in Matabeleland provinces, the levels in most dams remain depressed.