The Sunday Mail
Harmony Agere
Government should have stood by the decision to ban cattle movement for any purposes other than slaughter as it is the only way to effectively contain the foot-and-mouth disease, farmers’ unions have said.
This follows statements by Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development Deputy Minister (responsible for livestock) Cde Paddy Zhanda, dismissing media reports that Government had banned cattle movement.
Cde Zhanda had previously been quoted by our sister paper, The Herald, saying that his ministry had embargoed movement of cattle for the purpose of marketing, grazing and fattening to contain the foot-and-mouth disease outbreak.
“These are the new measures that we are putting in place to make sure we restrict the movement of cattle from one district to another and make sure the auctioning and fattening of cattle is done there,” he was quoted as saying.
“Abattoirs want cattle to come to them, and not them to go and look for the cattle where they are. Unfortunately we are not going to do that. We want to decentralise the marketing, auctioning and fattening to where production is taking place.”
The report ruffled feathers and created panic in the beef industry with abattoirs and ranchers fearing that the ban would disrupt the industry.
Also, some famers in drought-stricken areas are concerned that the move will leave their cattle starving since they cannot be moved to areas with better pastures.
With the Matebeleland provinces, which have the most cattle in the country, being the most infected areas, and unfortunately being the worst hit by drought, some anticipate that the stock in these regions will be further depleted.
However, in a telephone interview last week, Deputy Minister Zhanda clarified the position.
He said Government did not at any point ban the movement of cattle but imposed restrictions on congregating and auctioning of cattle at Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF) grounds where the foot-and-mouth disease outbreak had previously been reported.
“There is a serious misinterpretation there. We did not ban the movement of the cattle. What happened is that some time ago there were individuals who wanted to auction cattle at the ZITF grounds and we said no because there was an outbreak there.
“We proposed that the cattle be auctioned in the areas they are being produced to avoid spreading the disease.”
Cde Zhanda added that the use of the word ‘ban’ is wrong since cattle movement restrictions have always existed within the law.
Farmers have weighed in and are against the unrestricted movement of cattle.
They say allowing cattle to move for the purpose of slaughter will effectively end foot-and-mouth.
Furthermore, some have dismissed the notion that the ban will leave cattle in drought-stricken areas starving, saying that grass can be harvested and transported to affected areas.
President of the Zimbabwe Commercial Farmers Union, Mr Wonder Chabikwa said the foot-and-mouth disease can only be curbed through such restrictions.
“As farmers we welcome the move because it is very necessary. We know that in the past we used to move cattle from drought areas to those which would have done better in the rain season but the control is necessary,” he said.
“It’s unfortunate that the affected areas are the ones with the most cattle in the country but we should follow the law because this is meant to benefit us.
“I have a first-hand experience of a case in which illegal movement of cattle affected cattle all the way from Mwenezi to Nkayi.
“The Government should stand by the decision because it is the only effective way there is to deal with this problem.”
Zimbabwe Farmers Union director, Mr Paul Zakariya said the alleged ban could affect business but is necessary to protect the national herd.
“This is the only effective way to deal with the problem, it’s true that business will be affected but we should not be selfish because illegal movement will affect the national herd.
“The problem is that as a nation we are not doing enough to fight this problem, we have known about it and where it comes from for a long time but we are letting it be a big problem when it is not.
“It’s basic, we should not let our animals into wildlife sanctuaries because this is where they are getting the disease. We know we experienced drought and we want to move our cattle into other provinces but we can harvest the grass now and transport it to affected areas than letting the grass burn.”
Foot-and-mouth disease has been a major problem in the country for over a decade now.
As a result, Zimbabwe has lost lucrative beef markets in the European Union and the Middle East.
The disease is believed to originate from buffaloes and is the most lethal ailment known to cattle.
In Zimbabwe, the disease has been exacerbated by drought as cattle has been moving into wildlife sanctuaries in search of pastures.
Matabeleland, Masvingo, Midlands and parts of southern Manicaland are the most affected areas and Government is engaged in vaccinating the cattle.
