14 Apr 2026

Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) outbreak have been recorded in at least five villages in the Southern part of the country so far.

The FMD outbreak was recorded at the Ramatlabama Artificial Insemination Centre on March end and later at Matasalalo and Papatlo, followed by Bethel, Phihetswane and Bruwer’s feedlot in Hildavale.

Addressing a kgotla meeting in Good Hope on Tuesday, Acting Minister of Lands and Agriculture, Dr Edwin Dikoloti said it was disheartening that despite all biosecurity measures in place, the disease was spreading at an alarming rate.

He therefore challenged all to rally behind the government in the fight against the spread of FMD, saying all had a role to play.

He said the FMD outbreak was a national crisis that needed concerted efforts as government alone could not win the battle against FMD.

He also pleaded with the community to police one another if they wanted to eradicate the disease in Zone 11.

Failure to police one another, he said had led to security breach of a P65 million double cordon fence stretching 182km and a P9.4 million barbered and razor wire at the Ramatlabama ranch where the disease was first detected.

Even though some community members in Good Hope called for vaccination of the animals, the acting minister opined that vaccination was normally the last resort.

Firstly, he pointed out that vaccination would adversely affect the monetary value of the cattle.

Further, he said their supply at the European Union market would take a knock as they needed vaccine free meat. 

Dr Dikoloti further said the Botswana Meat Commission (BMC), which had been doing well lately, had since stopped operating.

“BMC has at least P2 million worth of meat on its storage, some of which was already paid for by international customers and we will not be able to deliver due to FMD outbreak,” he said.

As a result, he said BMC would make huge losses.

One of the farmers, Mr Patrick Ralotsia concurred with Dr Dikoloti that the disease could only be won through cooperation and guarding against elements that may want to sabotage the efforts of keeping the district a green zone.

Mr Ralotsia further warned the community that if they did not work well with officials, the district would be declared a red zone in 24 months and it would be hard to reclaim the green zone status and may take years. ENDS