Compensation for restored cattle in doubt
Onalenna Kelebeile | Monday April 7, 2014 11:20
Government embarked on a restocking exercise last year to replace cattle that were killed during the Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) control exercise. About 500 of the restocked cattle have died from what is believed to be natural causes.
Addressing farmers during a Kgotla meeting last week, Letshwenyo said some of the cattle died in quarantines while others went astray as a result of negligence by farmers. Letshwenyo said their investigations revealed that many restocked cattle succumbed to drought and associated factors. Some failed to adapt to a new environment while others died from diseases such as pasteurella and heartwater. “Some cattle were transported to Zone 7 from as far away as Ghanzi, hence fatigue as a result of excessive travel affected their immunity,” Letshwenyo explained.
He said that during a Kgotla meeting early this year, a silky sack-like object retrieved from a dead cow was taken for laboratory examination.
The test revealed that the object grew inside the cow’s belly after it consumed cocoons from trees. He said they realised during drought, cattle end up feeding on cocoons in large quantities. Letshwenyo said many cattle were affected by excessive consumption of the cocoons. He said as an intervention to assist farmers, government availed drugs for the cattle to be vaccinated continually and introduced a 35 percent subsidy on stock feed.
Farmers said time has come, for active farmers’ committees to be set up. They said it was disturbing that some of the restocked cattle were left to go astray due to negligence. Some farmers said that some cattle were stolen. They complained that even the surviving restocked cattle are showing signs of sickness yet they have not been vaccinated. They called on government to consider subdividing Zone 7 to enhance management of FMD and minimise its impact.
“The situation should serve as a lesson to government to restock using cattle from around the affected area to enhance adaptability rather than importing them from far,” said Kgosi Phokontsi Seeletso of Mmadinare. In response, Letshwenyo said that for the last five-years farmers have been calling for the zone to be subdivided but no conclusion has been reached. “We have realised that the use of fences in elephant infested areas remains a challenge. We thought of creating a buffer zone that will be looked after by ranch owners along the border and we are negotiating with Ngwato Landboard,” he said.