02 Mar 2023

Lack of knowledge on how to apply dips has been identified as one of the factors exacerbating livestock diseases. 

Speaking at the launch of a strategy to educate farmers and demonstrate how to dip and control ticks that cause senkobo disease, in Ngamiland, the assistant minister of Agriculture, Mr Molebatsi Molebatsi said senkobo disease had caused damage to the economy of the district as many farmers had lost many animals, hence the strategy. 

He said tick borne disease continued to ravage some areas in the district resulting in some farmers losing their livestock. 

He  urged them to play an active role in fighting livestock disease outbreaks in their region.

Mr Molebatsi, who was engaging with farmers at Quqao crush, which falls under Shorobe extension area, said government could not curb the outbreaks without the farmers’ input. 

He said the strategy was meant to upscale farmers’ knowledge so that they could take the lead in the fight.

Acknowledging that livestock contributed significantly to the livelihoods of the majority of the rural populace, he said government was committed to supporting farmers to overcome the problem.

“I plead with you to help the government to combat the problem before the situation turns worse,” he added.

Mr Molebatsi noted that the situation in Quqao extension area, was doing better than some areas in the Okavango district.

He said the best defence against tick borne diseases, was to control vectors by dipping using various methods. 

The assistant minister said the government had seen it fit to come up with a strategy to educate farmers and demonstrate on dipping because it was regarded as the most effective method for preventing tick borne diseases and associated losses.

“Education on animal health issues is one of our flagship programmes because we believe that it is important for the farmers to be knowledgeable so that they can do the right thing to control livestock disease,” he added. 

Mr Molebatsi said they would like to see farmers taking the lead and starting their own dipping exercise and vaccinating livestock from time to time to prevent tick borne diseases.

Farmers were urged to take the demonstrations seriously and also start stocking vaccines to guard against tick-borne diseases. 

They were also advised to take farming as a business and use part of the profits to secure vaccines for their herd.

Principal veterinary officer, Dr Thito Seomile noted that tick borne disease was under control in Shorobe extension area that covers Quqao area as they acted swiftly to assist farmers to contain it before it could spread.

Farmers, he noted, also adhered to advice from veterinary officers, adding that since the outbreak last November to date, farmers had lost 1 200 cattle, 500 goats and 50 horses to tick-borne disease.

Meanwhile, Dr Bruce Mafonko from Veterinary Services said they had formed four teams to do demonstrations in four crushes, adding that the treatment usually took nine days. 

He urged farmers to exercise patience and work closely with veterinary teams.

Farmers appreciated government assistance, saying they lacked resources to control disease outbreaks  One of the farmers, Mr Olerato Letsatsi said tick borne disease had impoverished them with some farmers left empty handed especially those in small stock production. END