01 Feb 2016

 The North West District needs urgent assistance as way to mitigate the drought situation that has crippled the district.

This was said by the Minister of Agriculture, Mr Patrick Ralotsia after a familiarization tour of the area. He was told that over 2 700 cattle have died in the Lake Ngami area as well as 23 horses.

The minister noted that the whole country was drought striken, but said the North West District was worst affected and that something has to be done to uplift the living standards of communities.

He could not disclose what kind of assistance, but said there was a need to engage all relevant departments and stakeholders to see how best they could address the situation.

Mr Ralotsia added that the situation needs a holistic approach as it has also affected the local economy, adding that the Ngamiland community depended on cattle rearing.

“There is no doubt that the government has to assists communities that are crying foul because of poverty. 

It is disheartening to learn that the situation has affected children’s education as I was told some abscond from school because of hunger,” he added.

He said it was a pity that most farmers have lost their cattle due to the situation, adding that he suspects that the mortality could be less because some farmers do not know the number of animals that have died due to the drought.

He noted that the Ngamiland area has a high population of cattle, adding that he was informed that the Sehithwa extension area had 29 000 cattle. 

“We are still in the dark to say the exact number of dead cattle because some had relocated looking for green pastures,” he said.

Furthermore, the minister noted that the situation was exacerbated by lack grazing and beef markets due to the Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD). Mr Ralotsia said although the government has made efforts to subsidise feeds, some farmers still could not afford to buy the supplementary feeds because of financial constraints.

The minister also had the opportunity to meet some farmers at Thololamoro settlement to appreciate their challenges.

Mr David Hiyavitama told the minister that the situation was a disaster. He said farmers were facing poverty as their kraals were empty. 

He noted that in the past they were permitted to relocate their cattle to better pastures, but that today they could not because of FMD.

He said they were unable  to control their cattle as they were roaming all over looking for greener pastures, adding that some end up crossing the buffer zone and were killed.

Mr Hiyavitama suggested that the government should establish kraals where cattle that had crossed the buffer zone could be kept and checked for FMD rather than killing them. 

Mr Ralotsia also visited Tsau and the village chief, Kgosi Ebineng Pusoeng told him that the drought has affected both crop and livestock farmers. A report compiled by the Tsau village extension team and presented to the minister showed that over 1 300 cattle have died due to the drought.

The team requested the government to cancel National Development Bank loans and to drill boreholes for farmers who would in turn group themselves and take care of the running and maintenance costs. Ends