26 Jan 2016

Drought, water shortage as well as Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) are major problems affecting the beef industry in Ngamiland.

Maun BMC plant manager, Mr Oabona Ramotshwara, said this during an event to welcome a roving torch at the BMC premises on Friday. He said they used to depend on water from the now dried up Thamalakane River. 

The situation, he said, forced BMC to reduce the slaughtering  of cattle in a week, adding that their slaughtering was dependent on the availability of water.

He said they were currently using water bowsers to get water from government boreholes around Maun.

Mr Ramotshwara stated that drought also contributed a lot in reduction of the number of cattle sold to BMC. He said many cattle died while some were affected severely more so that they lost weight and even when slaughtered, they would gain nothing.

He added that in such cases, they would advise farmers to avoid selling such cattle but rather leave them to fully recover.

Mr Ramotshwara also stressed that FMD also contributed a lot in delaying selling of cattle in some areas.

However, he said despite challenges they faced, they managed to slaughter 3 000 cattle in 2011, 6 000 in 2012, 13 500 in 2013, 17 000 in 2014 and 18 050 in 2015. He added that they were now buying cattle at Shorobe and from there they would proceed to Matsaudi, Nxaraga and Komana.

Meanwhile, a former BMC board member, Mr John Wellio, said there was an outbreak of foot and mouth in 1978, which resulted in restriction of movement of livestock. 

He said grouped themselves and asked permission from Kgosi Letsholathebe to request the building of Ngamiland abattoir from the then president. 

He said their cattle were only sold to Lobatse abattoir by that time.

He added that the construction of Maun abattoir started in 1981 and was finished in 1983. He said he was then elected to be one of the board members at Lobatse BMC where he was also representing Ngamiland farmers.

Furthermore, Mr Wellio said even though the beef industry was faced with challenges such as shortage of water, drought and FMD, farmers were also worsening the situation by not observing veterinary department regulations such as restriction of movement of livestock.

He said poaching could also result in the spread of FMD. Mr Wellio added that some farmers kept their cattle for a long time without selling them until they lost value. He advised farmers to sell their cattle and buy supplementary feed as well as medicines before diseases and drought occurred.

Meanwhile, residents of Boseja ward in Maun appreciated the roving torch, which they believed would contribute to peace and harmony in their ward.

The torch will go through the entire country until September 30 when Botswana would be celebrating its 50th independence.  Ends