More Than 1000 Cattle Die In Midlands

The current drought that is sweeping across Southern Africa is wreaking havoc, not only on crops, but also on livestock.

Jason Machaya, Provincial Affairs Minister for the Midlands province, has said that the province has been hit hard by cattle deaths, as the province recorded close to 1000 cattle deaths in the past two to three months.

The mass cattle death is as a result of the drought that has caused extreme shortages of grazing pastures as well as inadequate water supply.

Within the province, different areas recorded many deaths. Shurugwi had 110 cattle deaths, Gweru 90, Gokwe North 38, Gokwe South and Chirumanzu, 18 while the Kwekwe district recorded a total of 14 deaths.

The Mberengwa and Zvishavane districts were hit the hardest and to date, has recorded 560 and 450 deaths respectively.

Minister Machaya said that the province was working on a plan to try and save the remaining cattle:

“…we are looking at temporarily relocating cattle from Mberengwa and Zvishavane to districts with abundant pastures,” he said.

The provincial management also said that the government had introduced a supplementary feeding scheme through which they would be able to sell stock feed at subsidised prices to the farmers and community members in need.

Because of the decline in cattle, the animals are now selling for as low as $50, whereas in better times, they used to sell for more than $400.