27 Aug 2019

Chobe district council chairperson, Councillor Paul Chabaesele has told councillors that preparations for the next ploughing season are ongoing.

Speaking at the district’s last full council meeting in Kasane on August 26, Councillor Chabaesele said stakeholders’ workshops were held for beneficiaries of the Integrated Support Programme for Arable Agricultural Development (ISPAAD) programme in an effort to improve its implementation, while farmer registration was undertaken to facilitate input acquisition.

He said 440 beneficiaries as well as 30 ISPAAD contractors, with implements, were registered in the Chobe Enclave. 

He informed the meeting that in an effort to alleviate the effects of drought on livestock, the price subsidy for feed had been increased from 25 to 35 per cent and expanded to cover other sectors such as poultry, dairy and piggery.

The council chairperson said preparations were at an advanced stage to outsource management of the Parakarungu Agricultural Service Centre, as the district agricultural coordinator was awaiting the ministry’s approval for the facility to be entrusted to Chobe Enclave Conservation Trust (CECT).

Still on agriculture, Councillor Chabaesele said to ensure the district maintained its status of remaining free from livestock diseases, vaccination campaigns were on-going. He said for the current campaign, 14 158 animals had been targeted, which include 1500 dogs and cats targeted for rabies vaccination.

Councillor Chabaesele said while the vaccination of cats and dogs was meant to promote public safety, there was a problem of stray cats and dogs making it difficult to attain the target.

He noted that on August 8, the Department of Veterinary Services (DVS) received a notification of an outbreak of Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) at Segwe Village in the Zambezi region, Namibia, adding that it was a concern because the village shares a border with Botswana on the western part of Kasane including Kachikau Extension area.

“While approximately 13 108 cattle were vaccinated against FMD in the Chobe West region in July/August vaccination campaign, all livestock farmers are as a matter of urgency, strongly urged to report and avail any suspicious cases to the DVS officials for proper investigations and farmers are urged to stop grazing their animals with the Namibian cattle,” he said.

He said as part of control measures, a complete movement restriction of all cloven-hoofed animals and their products from the Zambezi region into the country was imposed and movement ban of other potentially infectious commodities out of Namibia was also imposed.

He explained that DVS had deployed its staff at strategic entry points such as Ngoma and Kasane border posts to re-enforce bio-security measures, while surveillance teams had also been deployed along the villages of Muchenje, Mabele, Kavimba and Kachikau. 

He requested farmers and the public to lend support in dealing with FMD outbreaks in neighbouring countries. Ends