10 Apr 2017

Vice President Mr Mokgweetsi Masisi has implored the Department of Wildlife and Natural Resources to speed up the assessment of damages by wild animals at Ngomana  fields.Speaking after a tour of Ngomana fields which have been destroyed by elephants,  Mr Masisi said the government has availed funds to address the compensation backlog at the Department of Wildlife, and appealed to officials to assess current damages on farmers fields.  

 

He said the assessment and compensation should be treated as a matter of urgency because most farmers were pinning their hopes on this seasons harvest to feed their families and sell to the markets.He added that  through different agricultural programmes such as ISPAAD, government aims to inspire farmers to be able to produce their own food and even enough to spare for the government food security.

 

However, he stated that the situation of wildlife which was also the responsibility of government   “cannot be avoided but it calls for all concerned parties to come up with strategies which will enable farmers to be able to produce yields even in the presence of these animals.”He noted that Parliament has  passed the budget for the department making allocation for it to be equipped with new vehicles and maintenance of other vehicles as well as making allocation for the purchasing of helicopters. This, he said, were efforts by the government to have the department of wildlife being effective in helping people at the time of need.

 

The Vice President also implored farmers to accept the compensation they would receive.Updating on the damages on agricultural produce, Central District agricultural coordinator, Ms Fatima Makgethe said they have over 181 reports to date with about 57.8 hectors being completely wiped out. She said out of 502.38 hectors affected farmers could still manage to harvest something. Furthermore, she highlighted that of the affected produce it was mainly maize, sorghum and lebelebele, noting that  elephants prefer maize first before proceeding to sorghum and then lebelebele. The total damage, she said, was estimated to be over P377 000. ENDS