10 Mar 2014

Assistant Minister of Agriculture, Mr Oreeditse Molebatsi says government is optimistic that Zimbabwe will buy cattle from Botswana as soon as the issue of permit is finalised.

Zimbabwe entered into a deal with Botswana where the Botswana Meat Commission would supply cattle for slaughter to the Zimbabwe Cold Storage Commission (CSC).

He said the permit expired and the CSC had to re-apply, noting that as soon as the permit was ready, Botswana would sell 2 500 cattle on monthly basis. An agreement between Botswana and Zimbabwe was signed last year August to export live cattle from Ngamiland for slaughter at CSC.

He said initially they could have started by January this year to export live cattle to Zimbabwe. Mr Molebatsi told residents of Komana and Nxaraga during kgotla meetings to be prepared for the Zimbabwe market provided there would be no recorded case of Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) in the area by end of March.

Mr Molebatsi said the market would target cattle weighing 400kg but assured farmers that even those weighing 350-370 would be accepted. He acknowledged challenges faced by the Ngamiland community such as lack of market for their cattle and low prices but assured them that the situation would improve for the better.

He said the government was doing all it could to look for alternative markets for beef and live cattle adding that “we know that cattle play a very important role in your lives.” He said it was impressive that the FMD was stabilized, noting that the last case was reported in Matsebe in September last year.

He urged farmers to join hands with government to control and contain the disease by committing to vaccinate their cattle. Mr Molebatsi said it has been observed that some farmers in certain areas did not bring their cattle for vaccination hence the spread of the disease.

For their part, residents commended government for controlling FMD in their area but wished the deal for Zimbabwe market could be expedited. Some residents of Nxaraga complained about the buffalo fence which they said has collapsed thus allowing cattle and buffalos to move freely.

Mr Rrekekgosi Mokhiwa of Komana wanted to know what would happen when cattle weighing 350-400 were all sold. He said it looked like they would be left in the lurch and urged the government to look for a permanent market which would be open to all. Ends