Cattle farming solutions expected from revamped dip tank
MEC for Rural Development and Agrarian Reform, Nomakhosazana Meth officially handed over a dipping tank to be used by three villages under Qutsa Administrative Area in Tsomo.
The handover of the facility came at a time where Nyokana, Ndungwana and Shweni communities were experiencing rampant stock theft and tick borne diseases which affected their livestock.
Speaking during the hand over, the MEC encouraged farmers to take care of their livestock.
“The department runs a livestock improvement programme. The programme doesn’t only talk about genetic improvement of animals but it touches even on animal health –one of the factors that determine the quality of animals,” said Meth.
Livestock farmers in the area said they were faced with the challenge of livestock theft, tick borne diseases, lack of animal branding, and vaccination.
According to Mzwamadoda Elefu, chairperson for the Qutsa Village dip committee their problems began when the dipping tank they were using started collapsing three years ago. Due to this, livestock registration, vaccinations and dipping ceased.
“We were suddenly overwhelmed with cases of stray cattle which were easy to steal because they weren’t registered. Other farmers lost huge numbers of their cattle because of diseases that broke out after we had stopped dipping and we suffered major losses,” he added.
MEC Meth said she expected the local farmers to go back to the old ways of communal livestock farming where all animals of a particular area were branded and recorded in the books of the dip committee to curb cases of stock theft.
One of the farmers, Nonzame Nketo who had identified a market for hides said her customers complained about the quality of the hides she sold to them.
Nketo buys hides from locals and sells them to neighbouring towns for processing.
“The dilapidation of the cattle dipping tank had far reaching impact even on those who just buy cattle for slaughtering because the meat was of inferior quality and so were the hides that I specialize on. Cattle suddenly grew tumors that turned into sores,” said Nketo.
Dr Tafadzwa Chimbwande of the Department of Rural Development and Agrarian Reform added that cattle that weren’t dipped stood a greater chance of contracting tick-borne diseases like the redwater, anaplasmosis and other parasitic diseases.
But the renovated cattle dip tank in Ndungwane Village is expected to bring solutions to all the challenges identified by the farmers.
The dip tank consists of two separate pans to be used for vaccination, animal branding, registration and castration.
MEC Meth said her department would ensure accessibility of state veterinarians and animal health technicians to further transfer basic animal health skills to locals.
The renovations of the facility were carried out by youths from the three villages through the EPWP programme.