19 Aug 2015

Assistant Minister of Agriculture, Mr Fidelis Molao said widespread reports on livestock that ravage ploughing fields around Letlhakeng are disturbing.

Speaking at a kgotla meeting in Letlhakeng on Tuesday (August 18), Mr Molao said if the problem was not addressed quickly it would reverse the government’s efforts of attaining self-sustenance in food production.

He said over the years government had been coming up with various programmes to boost food production such as ISPAAD, and that in the wake of such incidents, all these efforts would be rendered unsuccessful.

“From a long time, we have known cattle farming and ploughing to co-exist peacefully, and it will be a bad thing for such a symbiotic relationship to go sour,” he said.

Mr Molao advised crop farmers in the area to consider cluster farming so that their ploughing fields could be fenced off from grazing areas.

He also encouraged them to formally apply for change of ownership if they want to change their water right from crop production to watering livestock. 

Mr Molao also advised the local farmer’s committee to lodge a formal complaint with the land board against farmers who water their livestock on boreholes meant for crop production as the land board has the powers to shut such boreholes.

The assistant minister was responding to Letlhakeng farmer’s committee chairperson, Mr Albert Monokwane who stated that cattle farmers were not taking proper care of their cattle, which become a problem especially during the ploughing season.

“Most farmers in the area only wait for their cattle at the boreholes and drive them to the kraals, then in the evening they let them out and end up feeding on crops.

These cattle are so wild that once they see a person they take off, making it difficult to drive them to their owners as evidence,” he said.

Mr Monokwane also complained that most farmers who applied for boreholes for watering crops are now using them to water their cattle, which then increases the population of cattle in ploughing areas and therefore exacerbates the risk of livestock feeding on crops.

On other issues, Mr Molao advised residents to register their unused fields with his ministry to identify lessees, adding that this would help owners to retain land rights rather than selling land.

Mr Molao also assured farmers that government would do all it could to ensure that Livestock Advisory Centres around the country were well stocked with vital animal feeds after the country was declared drought stricken.

He also advised farmers to make it a habit of selling some of their livestock before it was adversely affected by drought. He urged farmers who want to apply for keeper’s card to register with the veterinary office so it could submit their names instead of them travelling to Gaborone for the service.

Mr Molao also addressed a kgotla meeting at Mantshwabisi where residents pleaded with him to make a provision for them to buy goats from the nearby government farm at subsidised prices.

Residents complained that their agricultural demonstrator covers a vast area, which makes it difficult for him to implement other government programmes under his office. Ends