The ManicaPost
Samuel Kadungure
Senior Reporter
GOVERNMENT has secured US$1.2 million funding from the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) that will be directed towards mitigation of El Nino induced climate shocks on livestock.
About 1 500 metric tonnes of subsidised survival cattle feed and pen-fattening rations will benefit 3 000 vulnerable farmers in Buhera, Chipinge and Bikita.
One thousand beneficiaries will be drawn from each of the three districts, with farmers that have between two to eight cattle benefitting.
Each household will receive 500kg of stock feed.
Under the program, the community should be involved and participate in the screening process.
This development follows a call by the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Water, Fisheries and Rural Development for the organisation to respond to effects of El Nino induced climatic conditions affecting the 2023/24 agricultural season.
The project which runs up to July seeks to enhance access to survival stock feed by vulnerable households, improve access to water for livestock, and increase communities’ awareness on drought mitigation strategies.
It will see the construction of 50 livestock drinking troughs at some water points.
Buhera District has a total of 121 516 cattle, while Chipinge has 111 009 cattle, and the project will target about seven percent of the livestock in the two districts.
The private sector is expected to increase the percentage through synergies with farmers’ associations that will get the stock feed at subsidised rates.
Livestock condition in the two districts usually deteriorates from July when grazing gets poor.
Although no livestock deaths have been recorded of late, FAO’s intervention seeks to prepare vulnerable families ahead of the lean season.
The negative effects of El Nino are being felt across the province after the late onset of rains, coupled with prolonged dry spells and heatwaves.
The net effect of these conditions is the erosion of livelihood assets such as livestock due to the delay in kicking in of the green harvest which usually happens around March and April.
Said FAO in a statement: “When crop production fails, poor households usually trade livestock for grain and income to meet household needs . . . FAO is embarking on immediate actions with the goal of reducing the impact of drought in the worst affected districts in Zimbabwe through the project ‘Mitigating the Impact of El Nino-induced Drought’.
‘‘The project is being funded by Central Emergency Response Fund under United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.”
Secretary for Manicaland Provincial Affairs and Devolution, Mr Abiot Maronge said agricultural productivity levels for key crops and livestock are low due to shortage of inputs and equipment; low levels of mechanisation; over reliance on rain-fed agriculture; limited access to marketing facilities and limited access to finance.
He said the livestock feeding programme compliments Government’s Livestock Recovery And Growth Plan which was launched to stimulate livestock production.
Mr Maronge added that value addition in the sector will contribute significantly to food security and nutrition, import substitution, foreign currency generation, employment creation and raising household incomes in pursuit of Vision 2030.
“The project will go a long way in mitigating the impact of the El-Nino induced drought and complimenting other Government programmes like the Livestock Recovery And Growth Plan, Pfumvudza, irrigation development and water harvesting.
“The vision of achieving an upper middle-class economy by the Year 2030 remains in place. This is a key step in the right direction,” he said.
