The Matabeleland Development Initiative (MDI) has called upon the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development to increase awareness among villagers and rural farmers about its proposed centralised cattle auction centres.
MDI is an organisation that aims to promote growth and development in farming and humanitarian efforts, including economic empowerment for the youth, women, and men of Matabeleland and Zimbabwe.
The organization’s call comes after the Ministry of Agriculture announced a ban on household and village-level cattle sales last month, stating that all cattle must be sold at ward-based cattle sales to regulate livestock transactions.
Responding to questions from CITE, MDI Chairman and Founder, Freeman Ncube, said although the organisation thinks it is a good move by the government to ensure that desperate villagers or rural farmers do not fall into the trap of unscrupulous buyers, there is inadequate information about the move.
“Although we are concerned that not enough information regarding the sale of livestock was disclosed to villagers or rural folk to understand the processes of selling their livestock, including how they will be taxed and the movement of livestock,” he said.
Ncube highlighted the confusion among rural farmers and villagers due to insufficient time and information to understand the new processes surrounding livestock sales.
“There is a lot of confusion regarding all this, and we believe that there was not enough time to educate people about the selling of livestock and the processes involved,” said Ncube, who emphasised the need for increased education and awareness among villagers and rural farmers.
“We call upon our government to make an effort to increase knowledge among villagers, rural farmers, and farmers at large.”
MDI also expressed its willingness to collaborate with the government in educating rural farmers, villagers, and farmers at large.
“As we speak, we are looking at engaging and inviting various government departments, such as the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (ZIMRA), Ministry of Agriculture, Agritex, Veterinary Services, and the Zimbabwe National Road Administration (ZINARA) to come and educate our farmers about livestock sales and other issues facing our villagers and rural farmers at our next farmers’ event in September,” Ncube said.
“We are happy to work with any organization in any department of development, as long as it is within the laws, regulations, and guidelines of the government of Zimbabwe.”
The chairman also acknowledged the government’s efforts to address concerns related to livestock taxation, stating, “We understand that the government is looking at efforts to either scrap livestock tax or come up with a better solution.”
Despite the government’s intentions, some farmers criticized the move, arguing that it merely addresses the symptoms of the ongoing drought rather than providing a sustainable solution for livestock protection.
“It takes away certain farmer rights because cattle are a farmer’s property. It’s not necessarily state property, but private property,” said a farmer in Bulilima in Matabeleland South, Nketha Mangoye-Dlamini.
Mangoye-Dlamini said the most logical action is to address the problem of drought mitigation because the panic selling is symptomatic of that.
“Farmers need to have contingency plans whenever there is a drought. What disaster risk recovery systems do farmers have when there is a catastrophe that affects feed for cattle?” he questioned, noting that farmers in certain areas or nationally must discuss how they can manage and plan for drought.
When there is no food during a drought, an emergency supply system comes through for people. Using the same model, Mangoye-Dlamini said this could be applied to ensure livestock also do not die from starvation.
“We need a well-managed solution and look at the estimation of cattle available, discuss whether it is advisable to sell three or four so that the others survive, or whether there is a system managed by the state so people can access livestock feed at a cheaper price or at heavily subsidized prices,” he said.
According to the farmer, the problem with competitive bidding is that if villagers face a drought and are forced to sell their livestock, the prices could still be lower.
