23 Jul 2025

The maintenance of the buffalo fence was one of the most prioritised because of its strategic importance as the first line to protect the country from Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD).

Answering a question in Parliament recently on behalf of the Minister of Lands and Agriculture, the Minister of Communications and Innovation Mr David Tshere said the total funds disbursed to maintain the buffalo fence exceeded P12.6 million annually or P63 million in five years. He said the annual budget for all cordon fences under the Department of Veterinary Services was P200 million, of which, 15 per cent or P30 million went to the buffalo fence.

Minister Tshere explained that government usually engaged the communities along cordon fences in its maintenance, adding however it was limited as the villages were at times far from the fence. He said in 2024, Shorobe community was engaged to maintain section of the fence from Gomoti to Mawana gate.

Mr Tshere said his ministry would facilitate a benchmarking exercise in Bobirwa where they had started the Mophato initiative, which maintains the Botswana-Zimbabwe cordon fence and help fight against vandalism and tackle livestock rustling.

He said the use of Chillie pepper and electrification had not been successful due to limited capacity to sustain these initiatives and added that his ministry would continue to explore engagement of communities and use of technology to improve maintenance of the fence.

Mr Tshere said movement of the livestock into Zone 16 posed a risk of transmission of FMD from buffaloes to livestock and this could have catastrophic consequences on the economy and livelihoods. He however said such livestock, which had crossed into livestock free zones such as Zone 16 were destroyed regardless of the condition of the fence and farmers were compensated at a rate set by Cabinet.

“In prescribing the compensation rate, consideration is made to avoid inadvertently creating market incentives for cattle that enter red zone either deliberately or due to complicity,” he said.

Minister Tshere said government had adopted a ‘herding for health’ initiative where cluster farmers herd fully vaccinated and traceable livestock, which provided sanitary equivalence to quarantine.

He said the strategy reduced the number of livestock killed for disease control purposes but also provided access to high-value markets, reduced stock losses to theft rustling and predation.

“Furthermore, H4H contributes to improved disease control, parasite control, increased productivity and overall farming resilience through improved pasture and rangelands management,” he said.

Maun North MP, Mr Dumelang Saleshando had asked the minister if he was aware that the buffalo fence in Ngamiland was in a bad state, allowing free movement of wild and domestic animals. He also wanted the minister to state the total funds disbursed in the past five financial years to maintain the fence versus the total amounts budgeted for the task.

He further asked if the government had considered enrolling the participation of communities living within the proximity of the fence for its maintenance and also considered innovations for maintaining an efficient buffalo fence. Mr Saleshando also asked why farmers whose cattle were killed primarily due to animal movement arising from the collapsed fence were not compensated at market rate. ENDS