Worsening drought in the Kunene Region has forced some farmers to drive out thousands of their cattle to other regions in search of grazing.
About 200,000 livestock alone in Kunene north, where the situation is critical, are at risk of starvation, according to Kunene Regional Governor, Dudu Murorua. He said between 1,000 and 2,000 cattle were already grazing in villages of the Omusati Region.
In April, two headmen from Okanguati and Ehomba warned that all the neighbouring villages would face serious drought, affecting both people and animals, as not much was expected from the fields and there are no natural water reservoirs.
The situation is so bad that come August or September, "I don't believe that there will be anything left from the current grazing," said Murorua. He said areas in Kunene south, which could have provided relief for the animals, were devastated by veld fires from October to December 2006 and up to 10,000 hectares of grazing in the plains areas were destroyed.
In addition to this, most boreholes are in bad shape and cannot provide water for animals that graze there. This has resulted in farmers driving their livestock for at least five to seven kilometres a day to get to water points, said Ben Kapi, chairman of the Ngatuuane Farmers Association in the region. Also, livestock have to compete for the same grazing with wildlife, which is said to have increased in numbers as well.
Farmers have proposed relief measures which include the provision of fodder for their animals, marketing incentives to encourage farmers to take off more livestock, drilling of emergency boreholes where there is no water, and emergency grazing on government farms that have not been advertised for resettlement yet.
The farmers propose that they be given 50 cents on every N$1 (US15 cents) for every animal they sell and it will involve farmers selling male and non-productive stock for them to keep breeding stock only.
"One cannot allow the livestock to perish. We need to find ways on how we can assist the farmers to market their animals to keep the breeding stock only," added Murorua.
Due to cultural beliefs, most farmers, especially the Ovahimba, do not sell off many of their livestock. Handunge said although there has been some improvement, with some farmers selling their animals to buy fixed assets, more needs to be done. "They need to sell to reduce their herds," she said, adding that even if fodder is provided it would remain difficult to cater for all the livestock in the area.
The governor said he was hopeful that cabinet would come up with proposals agreeable to the farmers that stakeholders would work on to find a lasting solution to the problem. But considering the number of cattle that farmers have, especially in Kunene north, the farmers will be on the move again in two to three months' time, if the government does not intervene in time.
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