Diseases Kill Over 50 000 Cattle In One Year Owing To Shortages Of Dipping Chemicals

A report claims that more than 50 000 cattle succumbed to diseases between December 2017 and November 2018. There are fears that the number may rise in the coming year if dipping chemicals are not availed.

The Parliamentary portfolio committee on Lands, Agriculture, Water, Climate and Rural Resettlement bemoaned underfunding of the department responsible for animal production. In its report to Parliament, the Committee said

The Committee also notes that this underfunding is coming at a time when about 50 000 cattle died due to different animal diseases, including tick-borne diseases between December 2017 and November 2018. Because dip chemicals need to be imported, the firms that won the tender to supply dip chemicals have not been able to get the requisite allocation from the RBZ. Thus, the Ministry’s bid had tried to factor this into account so that cattle could dip.

… This means that unless Government increases allocation for this programme area, more cattle will be lost in 2019 due to livestock diseases. Although the Budget has allocated about $2,4 million towards the rehabilitation of at least 50 diptanks in each province, the committee fears that cattle may still not dip due to lack of chemicals, as the reason for not dipping had nothing to do with the number or state of dip tanks but dipping chemicals.

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