As Govt puts in motion strategies to mobilize stock feed
As the effects of El Niño continue to wreak havoc, the Government is mobilizing funding for stock feed to be distributed to rural farmers. The national herd has significantly dwindled as livestock struggle to find pastures and water sources. During a parliamentary session last week, Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water, and Rural Development Minister Anxious Masuka informed the National Assembly that the Government is mobilizing supplementary feed for the country’s 1,620 wards severely affected by the drought.
In early 2024, President Emmerson Mnangagwa declared a State of Disaster in response to the devastating El Niño drought, which has severely impacted millions in Zimbabwe. The drought has led to widespread food insecurity, with over 2.7 million individuals facing hunger. The Government has taken proactive steps to address the crisis, initiating grain distribution nationwide. To further alleviate the situation, the Government will prioritize drilling boreholes to provide access to water for rural communities, focusing on the most severely affected regions, namely Natural Regions 4 and 5.
The drought has also resulted in dilapidated grazing pastures for livestock, negatively affecting Zimbabwe’s national herd. To mitigate this, the Government has allocated an additional 138,905 metric tonnes of surplus wheat to the strategic grain reserve, bringing the total grain stock to approximately 356,000 metric tonnes. Contracts have been signed with supplementary feed distributors to supply silage and other feeds to the drought-stricken wards, embodying the Nyika inovakwa nevene vayo philosophy of solving problems locally. This initiative underscores the Second Republic’s commitment to the leaving no one and no place behind mantra.
Ward mitigation centers have been established for spraying livestock to combat disease spread. The Government has installed spray races in various areas, allowing farmers to treat their cattle for diseases. Focal persons have been appointed for all wards, and WhatsApp groups have been created to ease communication challenges. Additionally, the Government is erecting fences near farms to control disease spread between wild animals and livestock.
