11 Nov 2015

 In an effort to control Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) in Ngamiland District, the government has approved an individual identification of cattle campaign which will be conducted in all zones.

The director of the Department of Veterinary Services (DVS), Dr Letlhogile Madisa said the affected zones include 2a, 2b, 2c, 2d, 2e and 2f, and that the exercise was expected to commence next month.

He revealed this when giving a presentation at a three-day DVS annual conference held under the theme: Thriving to excellence: the role of livestock in achieving 2016 at Maun Lodge recently.

He said the government had financed the exercise to the tune of P20 million to engage stakeholders and it was expected to be completed by March 2016.

The exercise is expected to identify all cattle and capture all vaccinated cattle. Dr Modisa said if all were identified, there would be no need to vaccinate FMD cattle. 

He noted that identification of cattle in zone 2 would commence after the inspection.

He also said since his officers were overloaded, it has been agreed that they could use private agents to ear tag Ngamiland cattle and update the system. 

“We expect farmers to collect ear tags and use these agents to tag their cattle for easy traceability,” he added.

Participants also learnt that efforts had been made to complete on time phase one of tagging of animals carrying a bolus. 

Dr Madisa pointed out that about 187 238 out of 242 000 cattle have been covered in the campaign.

He also noted that phase two of combo tag application by farmers has started, adding that stakeholders have access and could register cattle, change owners, report deaths, treatments and request movements.

In addition, he said so far 227 879 combo tags have been bought through the Livestock Advisory Centre (LAC) and 117 499 tags applied, system updated while 6 684 farmers have access to the system.

The director expressed happiness that 50 per cent of the farmers had usage of the system, noting that the number could increase if relevant officers show interest to check and ensure the farmers do the right thing. Dr Modisa said if the exercise could be done well, the department would have a lot of control in the system.

The conference brought together practitioners under DVS from all over the country to facilitate the sharing and exchange of information on experiences, initiating partnerships with stakeholders at district and national level.

For his part, Ngamiland District agricultural coordinator, Mr Obert Mabutha said the theme of the conference was appropriate and timely for the development of strategies in the livestock sub sector especially in his district which has seen frequent outbreaks of FMD.

He said without implementing effective restorative measures in controlling the challenges in livestock production, the country faced the prospect of chronic food insecurity, hunger and slow economic growth as economies were fully dependent on agriculture.

He believed the conference would produce the desired outputs which match commitment and effort, and that implementable plans would be drawn up at the end of the seminar.

Participants are expected to come up with resolutions and recommendations to improve service delivery in their respective stations. ENDS