The depletion of the cattle herds in parts of Zimbabwe, coupled with severe shortage of farm inputs, have become a major cause for concern to agricultural experts in the country, who now fear that the development may worsen the already bad food situation, despite a promising rainy season.
On the shores of a crusty, dried up dam in drought-stricken southern Zimbabwe, Bongani Mgomeni, a beneficiary of the controversial government-sponsored land reform programme, watches desolately as noisy vultures swoop onto a decomposing carcass of his cow, the last from a once flourishing herd that numbered 60 at its prime. The cow is one of the latest victims of a drought-stricken Matabeleland South.
The depletion of the cattle herds in the country’s most impoverished province, coupled with a shortage of farming inputs, have become a major cause for concern to thousands of vulnerable farmers yearning to harvest enough food in 2004, to fend off starvation that has stalked the country for the past two years. Since the beginning of this year’s crop farming season, there has been no agricultural activity in most parts of the country due to a crippling shortage of farm inputs.
Recent statistics from the Veterinary Services Department indicate that over 100,000 cattle have died due to the drought in Matabeleland South alone, raising fears that farmers could be unable to till their land this season because of a shortage of draught-power.
Agricultural experts have warned that the cyclic shortage of farming inputs will continue, and will adversely affect the next harvest. Recurrent droughts and the government-sponsored land reforms have been blamed for a 70 percent slash in commercial agricultural production in the country. Since it embarked on its controversial land redistribution exercise in February 2000, ostensibly to correct the colonial land imbalances, the government has failed to secure inputs such as seed-maize, fertilisers and farm implements like ploughs, to boost production.
The government has only managed to secure an insignificant fraction of the required 100,000 tonnes of seed-maize. A staggering Z$ 536.7 billion (approximately US$ 652 million) is needed to secure enough seed-maize to sustain the country. Maize is the country’s staple food. When the commercial farming sector was robust, farmers used to produce enough maize for consumption, and would even export some to needy countries.
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