THE Gomoza cell pen in Lupane is a hive of activity. The grey clouds that hang menacingly over the village threatening to spill torrents of rain seem to be failing to dampen the mood.
BY PHYLLIS MBANJE
The eventual light showers and the smell of early rain all add to the heady excitement that builds up, as enterprising villagers arrange their vast wares ranging from clothes to household trinkets.
The date is December 13 and villagers are gathered for a community livestock auction.
This event is held once every month and judging by the crowd that keeps swelling, it is obviously one of the major economic highlights in this drought-stricken area.
Women with babies strapped on their backs fuss over their pots, cooking slowly over the many open fires. Intoxicating smells of the popular “road runners”, goat meat, roasted mealies waft through the air.
There is some serious hustling at the vendors’ stalls, who have improvised and put up temporary sheds to protect their wares from the rain.
Young people hang around in corners and many are putting on their Sunday best. Young women in colourful dresses strut around like peacocks hoping to catch a suitor worthy to be a husband.
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Men sit around drinking locally-brewed beer enjoying easy banter among themselves.
Some have come from as far as Nkayi and they brought green mealies fresh from their irrigated plots.
Villagers in Gomoza treat this as a delicacy because their dry land fields do not yield much in terms of crops.
But a few metres away from all this, serious trading is going on. Villagers in livestock production have brought their cattle for sale.
As an economic asset, livestock makes a vital contribution to food security and to achieving #Zerohunger for all.
Since 2013, the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has been implementing a four-year European Union-funded livestock project to the tune of $9,2 million in partnership with Economic Advancement of the Disadvantaged (Lead) Trust in Lupane district. They also work with Germany’s Help organisation in Nkayi.
Buyers have come from as far as Bulawayo, Kwekwe and other areas across the country.
Perched on the concrete terraces in the shed overlooking the cattle pen, the buyers shout and jostle to get the best beasts.
On the opposite side are the sellers who nervously watch the proceedings.
Grim faced and uncompromising, the buyers take turns to bid for the cattle as they move through the narrow path which is fenced off.
Once the beasts step over the weighing machine and the weight is recorded, the buyers start bidding.
“Asambe, Tshisa!” (Hurry up, hurry up!) shouts a big-framed buyer with a beefy tosso. He looks agitated and in no mood to talk to the media. “Am working my sister,” he says dismissively.
A representative from MC Meats in Kwekwe says he has been doing this for a while.
“I needed 25 beasts, but so far no luck. They are selling at $1,40 per kg per live mass and I was prepared for $1,10 per kg per live mass,” he sayd
MC Meats are one of the biggest buyers and are also supporting contract farming.
“We provide feeder finance for the farmers and they sell to us,” he said.
Lucia Mwanyisa, the programme manager for the livestock project, Lead, says the farmers preferred livestock after realising that they were not doing too well in crop farming.
“To support these farmers, we enhanced the livestock project and there are over 60 smallholder farmers involved. We have trained them on how to get the best out of their cattle and also in farming as a business,” she explained.
The interested buyers deposit cash with Kusile Rural District Council which, after the sale, will pay the farmers.
There is also a hired auctioneer who can play a similar role to ensure the farmers are not short-changed.
“This place was run down, but we have since rehabilitated the shed from which the buyers and the sellers will be seated and also the general infrastructure of the cattle pen,” she said.
There are now eight cattle pens and a proper loading ramp.
There is a committee made up of local villagers that oversees the project. The chairman, Nyovani Ndlovu, says the beef prices normally go up between September and November, but there were fewer animals as farmers were using them as draught power.
How did they manage to keep away foot and mouth disease which ravaged most districts?
“We inspect our animals and they are branded so there is no way a villager from another area can bring their cattle here. We destroy any cattle that are sneaked in with the help of the veterinary office,” he said.
The cattle sell between $400 and $1 000. An average of 60 cattle are sold during such an event.
Fifty-five-year old Janet Bhebhe is enthusiastic about selling her over 460kg ox which was bought for $680.
“My husband has been unwell for sometime and so this will come in handy for the many hospital trips and medication,” she said.
Their children all live in South Africa.
“We cannot plough the field because of age, so livestock rearing is way better. After the sale, we are able to buy food and other basic needs,” she said with a satisfied look.
The livestock project, which has been assisting 40 000 Zimbabweans, has gone a long way in addressing food security and nutrition concerns.
As the sun sets over Gomoza, the villagers pack their wares, some preparing to travel long distances back home, but all are happy because their circumstances have been changed, for now at least.
