NKAYI traditional leader, Chief Mbusi Dakamela, has appealed to government to provide stockfeed to save livestock amid the current El Niño-induced drought that has resulted in an acute shortage of pastures and water.
In an interview with Southern Eye yesterday, Chief Dakamela said the drought had affected his community, adding that government had failed to provide stockfeed for the livestock.
“Government has tried to provide food for the people through social welfare but in terms of stockfeed no effort has been made hence we are appealing for that so that our people can be saved from losing their source of livelihoods,” he said.
Chief Dakamela added that he was worried about the high prices for stockfeed which most rural communities could not afford.
“The organisation Amalima Loko has tried to provide food for the citizens while the Hefo Community organisation has been assisting through drilling of boreholes to eradicate the water crisis,” he said.
“With the current stockfeed prices in the shops, one can sell a cow and be unable to buy more than 20 bags of stockfeed. This shows the crisis we are facing as the rural community. Also due to the drought our livestock has lost value.”
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The chief said government and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) had not made an effort to provide stockfeed for livestock.
“In terms of livestock we are in danger of going back to the 2019 situation where we lost thousands of cattle. We pray and hope interventions from both the government and NGOs will be available to us so that our livestock will be saved,”he said.
Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development minister Anxious Masuka announced this month that government had secured 15 000 metric tonnes (MT) of silage as part of its response to save livestock from the effects of the El Niño-induced drought.
“Government has secured some 15 000MT of silage, molasses and 8 800MT of maize unfit for human consumption. An estimated 15 million bales (12kg each) are expected from the 2024 winter wheat season,” Masuka said.
He said a drought mitigation tracking and programming tool had been established to monitor and evaluate efforts being made.
Masuka said he was announcing the measures as part of a comprehensive livestock drought response strategy aimed at supporting farmers affected by the current drought conditions.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa in April declared the drought a state of national disaster in a bid to mobilise US$3 billion.