21 Sep 2026

Communities have been called to remain vigilant and fully comply with veterinary protocols following suppression of the Foot aand Mouth Disease (FMD) outbreak in Jackalas 1.

Addressing a recent full council meeting, North East District Council chairperson, Mr Mbaakanyi Smart reflected on the district’s FMD status, ongoing agricultural relief programmes and the psychological toll the outbreak had taken on farmers.

Mr Smart confirmed that while emergency control teams had been decommissioned and local personnel re-engaged to man border gates, security remained tight.

“The Botswana Defence Force (BDF) remains deployed at major strategic gates including Vukwi, Bisoli and Tshesebe,” said Mr Smart.

He indicated that in a departure from standard practice where an outbreak command centre was dissolved post-campaign, the Jackalas 1 command centre would remain fully operational. 

“These measures are being taken to proactively prevent further FMD outbreaks and protect our zone,” he stated.

Mr Smart emphasised that the district’s new status of ‘FMD-free with vaccination’ was conditional.  To satisfy the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH), such a status must be maintained for a minimum of 12 months through rigorous control measures while the full recognition process was anticipated to take between 12 to 24 months or longer.

To achieve the status, he said the council was undertaking routine injections where livestock would be vaccinated every four months to maintain required herd immunity.

“The first leg of the FMD vaccination and surveillance campaign commenced on September 1 in Disease Control Zones 6B and 3C, including Maitengwe and will conclude on September 25,” he said.

He requested councillors to inform their electorates that no cloven-hoofed animals were permitted to move out of the affected zones and that animals may only be introduced into such zones for breeding purposes, provided they were vaccinated against FMD prior to entry.

Acknowledging the emotional distress caused by livestock restrictions, Mr Smart revealed that psychosocial support and counselling services remained ongoing across the district and between June and September this year, a total of 14 farmers received counselling, including six in Nlapkhwane, three in Siviya, three in Matopi and two in Tshesebe.

On arable farming, Mr Smart said the current crop season had been severely battered by excessive rainfall and widespread pest infestations.

“An average yield of only one to two bags of cereals was anticipated per field,” he said, adding that to date, the district had recorded a total harvest of 86 tons from 188 hectares.

Mr Smart also updated the council on government’s field fencing assistance initiative of which out of 1 236 applications received, 1 072 met the eligibility criteria and were approved.

He said 828 applications were submitted to the National Development Bank (NDB) for payment and processing delays persisted as some beneficiaries struggled to clear their required down payments. 

“So far 660 farmers have received their fencing materials and 526 have completed fencing their fields protecting a total of about 2 800 hectares,” he said

Mr Smart acknowledged that the primary challenge facing the programme was the delay in paying local fence erectors due to insufficient funds. However, he assured councillors that the Ministry of Lads and Agriculture continued to explore alternative strategies to assist the affected service providers effectively and ensure that outstanding labour claims were resolved. ends