ZIMBABWE’S livestock mortality rate has gone down from 12% to 6% over the past year courtesy of a $3,7 cash injection by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) which made dipping chemicals readily available in all districts, a senior government official has said. REPORT BY OWN CORRESPONDENT
Hurungwe district veterinary officer Nyaradzo Rukatya told journalists during a tour of the area early this week that farmers were now able to regularly take their livestock for dipping. “In this district, we had 80% loss of livestock in the past year due to tick-bone diseases, but this has since decreased to 70% because of the availability of chemicals from FAO. We are hoping it will go a long way in reducing livestock diseases in the area,” Rukatya said.
Speaking during the tour, an FAO official who declined to be named said the $3,7 million allocated towards acquisition of dipping chemicals was part of the European Union’s €7 million donation to boost livestock production among smallholder farmers.