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ZIMBABWE: Cattle and game ranching proposed for non-arable land
IRIN News
April 12, 2004

BULAWAYO - Zimbabwe's Commercial Farmers Union (ZCFU) plans to intensify livestock and game ranching programmes in Matabeleland South and North to promote agricultural production on land unsuited to crop farming.

ZCFU president Davison Mugabe told journalists in Bulawayo that the union had tasked its regional offices in Matabeleland to consult local farmers in designing proposals for both game and cattle ranching projects.

"Matabeleland is rich in wildlife and cattle ranching. It has the potential to contribute to the national economy if these are exploited to commercial levels of production. We are aware that some farmers want to venture into these projects, but cannot do so because of lack of capital," said Mugabe.

The ZCFU was discussing the incorporation of both livestock and wildlife farmers into the fund allocated for the livestock rebuilding programme with the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ).

"With the money that has been availed by the RBZ and the Land Bank (formerly Agri-bank) we are going to make sure we complement this with adequate support extension services and advice," Mugabe said.

The ZCFU livestock resuscitation plans come at time when the national cattle herd has been depleted by three years of consecutive drought.

Cattle breeders across Zimbabwe were forced to sell or abandon thousands of animals following the invasion of farms in February 2000 by war veterans.

The wildlife population has also been depleted by the resettled people, who began poaching indiscriminately soon after settling in areas where game was plentiful.

Edward Mkhosi, former chief livestock and land use planner for the state-run Agriculture Rural Development Authority (ARDA) in Matabeleland South, said the ZCFU's plans for both livestock and wildlife farming were likely to be upset by regular outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD).

"Foot-and-mouth, which affects livestock and wildlife alike, is still a major threat in the region. The theft and deliberate cutting of boundary fences around game sanctuaries has led to free movement of buffaloes, which are known to spread the disease. The government has failed to control FMD, and one wonders how the ZCFU intends to control it. Success is possible, but the ZCFU needs to tell government to come up with an intensive disease-control programme," said Mkhosi.

Foot-and-mouth has been rampaging through Zimbabwe since it was detected at a farm outside Bulawayo in August 2001. Government efforts to control it have been severely hampered by a shortage of foreign currency to import the necessary vaccines from neighbouring South Africa and Botswana.

Zimbabwe's national cattle herd has dropped alarmingly from an estimated one million early last year to slightly over 300,000 this year.

Over 200,000 cattle are reported to have died due to the drought, while an estimated 15,000 have succumbed to a combination of tick- and waterborne diseases as a result of inconsistent dipping services.

A shortage of chemicals has meant that cattle in Zimbabwe have gone more than eight months without their usual fortnightly dipping.

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