African Cattle Investing - The New Cash Cow?

Cattle have long been considered a measure of wealth across Africa - but it is not just farmers cashing in.

A pioneering app in South Africa lets investors, eager to benefit from rising global beef demand, buy shares in a cow from their mobile phone for as little as 576 rand ($41).

Self-styled "crowd-farming" company Livestock Wealth connects investors with small-scale farmers via its "MyFarmbook" app, where they can buy their own cow and receive interest rates of between 5% and 14% depending on where they put their money.

Launched in 2015 with 26 cows, the project now includes more than 2,000 cows and has taken in 50 million rand, with 10 percent of investors coming from outside South Africa. Groups of investors can buy a whole cow, while individuals can purchase shares in a pregnant cow or young calf.

A pregnant cow costs 18,730 rand and takes 12 months before the newborn calf can be sold for a return, while investing in a calf costs 11,529 rand and takes six months for it to grow enough to be sold.

"We can link small scale farmers to big markets by introducing private capital into the growing phase," said 38 year-old Livestock Wealth founder and CEO Ntuthuko Shezi, who was inspired by his grandparents' farming success.

"The household bank account was a crop," added Shezi of his family experience, standing among a herd of cattle at a partner farm in Vryheid, a ranching town in northern KwaZulu-Natal province.

Livestock contributes around 51% to the agricultural economy in South Africa, with global sheep and beef prices rising after droughts in major producing areas.

Small business consultant Nontokozo Sabela, 34, was once interested in farming - but found the app a better alternative. She bought her first cow in 2016 and earned around 6,000 rand from it. "This way it's easier for me, it's cheaper, it's convenient," said Sabela.


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Uganda: Cattle 'Birth Certificate' To Aid In Export Beef Traceability Requitrements

The Ugandan government has announced plans to register all farmers and their cattle, including issuing "birth certificates" for the animals, so it can trace their products.

Mr Vincent Ssempijja, the Minister for Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries said the international market demands that all countries producing food for the European market should have proof of its traceability.

"They want to know where the [meat and crop] products are coming from. They have been impounding and banning all consignments from Uganda if they find one box with issues,” he said.

“Farmers will be registered and their products given barcodes so that if they find a problem with one box, they look for the source and sort out the problem. We cannot enter lucrative markets unless farmers register."

Mr. Ssempijja added that all the cattle must be registered and given "birth certificates."

"For cattle farmers, it is going to be worse. You will be registered as a farmer, the cow will be registered, numbered and will have a birth certificate because the importers of our products demand meat for cows aged between 15 to 24 months. So we are going to sell [the meat] depending on their age," he added.

According to Mr Ssempijja, an audit team from the European Union is expected in Uganda in September (2019) to ensure that all farmers producing commodities destined for Europe are registered.

"Apart from traceability of the products, the team also wants to ensure that farmers benefit directly because many of them are cheated by middlemen. Government will not cater for those who defy the order when it comes to markets,” he announced, refuting allegations that the registration is aimed at imposing a tax on them.

President Yoweri Museveni, in a message delivered by Prime Minister Ruhakana Rugunda, said Ugandans need to be more competitive in so they can benefit from the international market.

"People want to know what they are buying to eat, where it is coming from, its quality and what they are spending their money on. Registering farmers is a major requirement; we cannot do without it and if we ignore it, we will lose to competition in the international market," he said.

The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) representative in Uganda, Mr Antonio Querido, said Uganda needs livestock traceability for better product transaction in the international market.

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Rwanda Cattle Livestock Sector In Strong Recovery

The number of cows in Rwanda grew from just 172,000 in the immediate aftermath of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi to 1.3 million currently, according to figures from the Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources..

Milk production went up from over 7.2 million litres per year in 1994 to 817 million litres in 2019, increasing over 110 times over the last 25 years.

Solange Uwituze, the Deputy Director General of Animal Research and Technology Transfer at Rwanda Agriculture Board (RAB), told The New Times that Rwanda’s cattle are today composed of 43 per cent crossbreeds, 41 per cent local breeds, and 16 per cent pure breeds.

A big proportion of crossbreeds, Uwituze said, were donated to citizens through the government-backed Girinka scheme (One Cow per Poor Family) under which more than 354,700 cows had been distributed to needy Rwandan households by mid-June 2019.

The initiative has significantly boosted nutrition, farm productivity and household incomes.

“There has been a deliberate effort to improve the genetic potential of our national dairy herd through artificial insemination. Today, we inseminate 100,000 cows per year,” Uwituze said.

Shortly before the Genocide, the country had 600,000 cows but most of them were butchered by Genocide perpetrators during the three-month slaughter.

In the end only 172,000 cows were left by July 1994.

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Botswana's Cattle-Rearing Culture Threatened By Drought

Longer and harsher droughts are driving a growing share of Botswana's traditional cattlemen to give up their animals.

According to an agricultural census released by Statistics Botswana last year, the country's estimated cattle population has fallen from 2.5 million in 2011 to 1.7 million in 2015. The number of households raising cattle also has plunged, from about 75,500 in 2004 to 39,000 in 2015, a more than 45 percent decline, it noted.

In a country where cattle have long been a rural stash of savings, smaller herds affect how families... feed their children, buy school uniforms, and pay for everything from weddings and to burying the dead.

The loss of cattle also threatens the country's traditions and culture. Cattle skins have long been used to produce traditional dance attire for men, women and children, as well as clothing for traditional chiefs. But more recently cotton cloth and blankets, worn as shawls, have begun to replace hide clothing.

Botswana these days earns 70 percent of its earnings from diamond exports, not agriculture, which today produces less than 3 percent of GDP. But livestock still accounts for 80 percent of the southern African country's agricultural earnings.

Boikhutso Rabasha, a spokeswoman for the Ministry of Agriculture, said she worries about the country's continuing ability to produce enough beef. Beef exports from Botswana have been declining for the past 35 years, she said.

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Agriterra’s cattle ranching operations in Mozambique on target

Agriterra Limited, listed on London’s Alternative Investment Market, continues to expand its Mozambican cattle ranching operations.

The total herd now stands at 3,750, on course to reach 10,000 by 2015. The 5,000 target for 2012 is within reach.

Support infrastructure is being expanded, including a new 48 billion liter dam expected to increase per hectare capacity from 1.5 to 7 head, as well as new feedlots and an expanded stud ranch. The dam will be capable of irrigating 4,000 hectares and provide 132kV of hydroelectric power for the irrigation pumps.

In its efforts to encompass all aspects of the beef business, the company has opened a number of butcheries. A new abattoir with a capacity of 4,000 head per month will commence operations in August 2012. Average carcass prices range from US$ 835 to $1100 each.

African Agriculture

Niger seeks South African investment in livestock sector

Niger is one of the Sahelian countries most affected by poor rains and chronic food insecurity. Many organizations warn of a worsening humanitarian crisis.

With much of the country unsuitable for cropping, a long tradition of keeping livestock is one avenue of agricultural development.

Niger’s Livestock Minister, Mahaman Ehadji Ousmane, is reported by Bloomberg to have sought the assistance of South Africa’s State-owned Industrial Development Corporation to develop his country’s livestock industry.

“We are here to encourage South African investors to help us establish livestock-processing businesses in our country,” Bloomberg reports Ousmane as saying. “We are providing a tax-free investment opportunity for a minimum of 2 billion CFA francs ($4 million) invested.”

Reports say the IDC will offer 4.5 billion rand ($580 million) over the next five years to South African agro- processing projects that seek to promote rural economic development. The IDC planned to increase the fund by a further 1 billion rand annually over the next five years, according to the October 2011 reports.

Minister Ousmane said Niger ‘doesn’t have commercial farming,’ even as 87 percent of the population owns livestock. The country’s subsistence farming community has more than 35 million animals, including cattle, sheep, goats and camels, he said.

Livestock contributes about 22 percent of the nation’s export revenue, Ousmane said. There has been no investment in the country’s livestock and agricultural industries for the last 35 years, he said.

African Agriculture

Cattle destroy crops in Nigeria's Abia State

Chief Dunlop Okoro, the Chairman of All-Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN) in Abia says cattle have destroyed crops worth millions of naira in the state.

Okoro told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Umuahia that farmlands in Abia rural communities had been repeatedly invaded by cattle with a range of crops destroyed in the process.

 The state’s Ministry of Agriculture decided to set up a committee to ascertain the degree of the damage as well as recommend ways to avert re-occurrence. The intervention of the state government on crop destruction by cattle had averted a serious crisis between herdsmen and their host communities.

``I must say that the issue in Abia State about the cattle menace is what should be described as farm disaster.Many farms have failed because of activities of these cattle. And so I am even appealing to NEMA to come to the aid of Abia farmers because the magnitude of the destruction is so much that the farmers cannot bear it. They should come and give us all the assistance they have been giving to disaster areas. It is a farm disaster in Abia state.’’

Okoro appealed to the state government to either ban herdsmen from the state or provide a grazing route.

``The problem we have now is that the menace is trying to overwhelm the committee because if you tackle a community where they are grazing, tomorrow they will be grazing on other farms.

``If we do not have a grazing reserve or a stock route, the tendency is that the menace will become a hydra-headed problem and the situation could constitute a security breach.’’

Okoro said that it was regrettable that farmers could borrow monies from banks and individuals only to lose their crops to cattle.

``These farmers cannot even cultivate any crop next faming season because they have lost all they have and there is no place to run to,’’

Okoro said that the state could face shortage of certain food crops next year if nothing was done to address the situation.

NAN

Unusual heat kills livestock in Zimbabwe

by Emilia Zindi

High temperatures during the past three months have resulted in the death of several hundreds of livestock in Zimabwe's Matabeleland region owing to a lack of drinking water and grazing pasture.

Binga and Victoria Falls in Matabeleland North at one time recorded 43 and 44 degrees Celsius respectively while Kezi and West Nicholson in Matabeleland South each saw temperatures soar to 40 degrees Celsius.

A recent visit to the provinces revealed a sad scenario where domestic animals could be seen grazing along highways which were the only areas with some grass left. Most grass has also been burnt in veld fires.

Some villagers shed tears as they narrated how they were losing their livestock, which were their only form of wealth, to the heat.

“I lost 10 cattle last month. The animals just collapsed while grazing in the dry pastures. This happened on three consecutive days,’’ said Mr Khulekai Khumalo of Chisuma Village in Hwange. “This is the first time I have lost such a big number of my cattle in many years. The heat that swept across the province left us wondering whether we would survive because even the rivers dried up, forcing us to seek alternative sources of water from the main water pipeline that draws water from Zambezi River to Hwange.’’

He said villagers were now tracking the main pipeline seeking leakages where they would drive their animals to drink from.

“We are digging small ponds where there are leaks along the pipeline. This is where we are driving our animals to drink from while villagers fetch drinking water direct from the leak,’’ said Mr Khumalo.

The old man is now left with eight cattle.

Another villager, Christopher Siyamapeni of Kasase in Ward 10, Hwange, said he lost eight cattle in October due to the heat.

He only discovered the dead animals after a couple of days since he could not locate them.

“It took me five days to locate the carcasses as the animals collapsed more than five kilometres from my homestead. The animals were in a bushy area in the nearby mountain where they usually graze,’’ said Mr Siyamapeni

“I had to sell three of my remaining 20 cattle to buy feeds so that the animals do not go far away in search of pastures. The situation is bad in this area. As you can see we do not even have any pastures in sight,’’ he said.

Some of his cattle could be seen struggling to stand on all four legs as they had become so thin and were being fed whilst lying down.

“I now have 17 cattle left and I intend to sell some more so that I buy more feeds for the remaining ones,’’ added Mr Siyamapeni.

A veterinary officer in the area, Mr Edison Ncube, confirmed the death of domestic animals in the province.

“I received more than 20 reports at the end of October only, where I recorded more than 60 animals which died. There are of course many more villagers who are not reporting perhaps because they are in faraway areas or because they do not just bother to let the veterinary officers know for fear of being ordered to burn the carcasses since we do not allow people to eat the meat,’’ he said.

Mr Ncube said the livestock in the area showed signs of weakness due to a lack of pastures and drinking water.

“We have treated some animals, but the major issue is of feeds and water and as a result we have advised villagers to resort to supplementary feeding,’’ he said.

Another villager from Jambezi Ward 2 under headman Makupiwa Ncube in Victoria Falls, Mr Limukile Ndhlovu, said he had since lost 20 cattle between August and October.

He said he could not report his cases to the veterinary officers since he knew it was because of the heat.

Mr Ndhlovu confessed that his family ate some of the meat whilst the remainder was sold to other villagers because he could not afford throwing the meat away.

“I knew the animals died because of the heat and not any other disease so I had no option but to sell the meat while I ate some of it with my family. It is not easy to just throw away a big animal like that. No one got sick after eating the meat because the animals were disease-free,’’ he said.

He said he was now left with six cattle whose welfare was now his pre-occupation.

Another villager who was faced with the same predicament, Mr Elliot Mahlangu, said he could not wait for his animals to die. Instead he would slaughter any of his animals he suspected would die.

Some of the villagers could be seen tracking the Hwange water pipeline in search of water for themselves as well as their domestic animals.

In Matabeleland South’s Zezani area, the situation was the same with villagers saying they were selling some of their cattle to reduce the loss.

A white farmer was said to be moving around the area buying cattle from villagers for as little as US$200 per beast.

Matabeleland North and South are known for their high volumes of livestock with statistics released late year showing the provinces had a total of more than one million animals.

Matabeleland North had 552 000 with Matabeleland South having 530 000. This saw President Mugabe during the launch of the Presidential Well Wishers’ Special Agricultural Inputs Scheme for the 2011/12 season two weeks ago giving US$500 000 worth of dipping chemicals to the provinces as well as small grains varieties for the farmers in the area.

The Sunday Mail

Big cattle herd worries Botswana

by Mpho Tebele

Botswana is struggling to control the number of cattle in the far north of the country.

Botswana Meat Commission (BMC) CEO David Falepau said the massive cattle herd in Ngamiland was due to absence of adequate slaughter facilities. The area, classified a 'red zone', is prone to outbreaks of foot and mouth disease.

'Ecologically there is an over population in Ngamiland. There are insufficient resources to support the capacity. The capacity is 250 000 and the population of cattle in Ngamiland is double that,' he said.

This has seen the government reach an export agreement with Angola through the Agriculture and Trade ministries. 'The prices there (in Angola) are actually stronger than the South African market and definitely stronger than the Botswana market,' said Falepau.

He said they could have built a big abattoir to cater for the area but 'in the end the only really solution was to export live cattle to Angola'.

'There is no problem with exporting cattle from red zone to a country that has seen the disease already; for instance Angola. 'We have been supplying from the green zone (FMD-free areas) to Angola and that is not sufficient,' said Falepau.

He said the breeding system was also to blame for the huge herd and urged farmers to market their beasts at recommended ages.

'The best thing is to reduce the oxen and put weaners in the feedlot to increase the number of cattle available for the valuable market,' he said.

He said the BMC started slaughtering for the Angolan market on October 31, though they faced logistical challenges.

He said the meat commission had identified another lucrative market in the DRC.

Analysts and Members of Parliament have argued against exports of live beasts, saying such a policy had resulted in the collapse of Botswana's ostrich meat industry as buyers started breeding on their own and competing for markets.

However, Falepau said the chances of Angola competing with Botswana for lucrative beef markets were very slim.

'What are the chances of us building Angola's beef industry through live cattle export? Very little to none, it takes a lot of time and many stages are involved for a country's beef market to evolve to that level.'

The commission called for the supply of 650 specified breeds of cattle for live export to Angola from FMD-free zones.

'The 650 cattle would be a once off consignment to assist Angola establish a superior beef-breeding programme. This takes time and cannot be an immediate success that could pose a serious threat to a well-established beef industry like that of Botswana. The important thing for us to focus on now is controlling our cattle herd,' Falepau said.

The BMC CEO said the Department of Veterinary Services would soon apply to the European Union for resumption of exports to that market.

The EU suspended purchasing from Botswana early this year after expressing dissatisfaction with slaughter conditions in the Southern African country.

Southern Times

South African researchers work with US partners to improve cattle breeds

by Dennis O'Brien

A U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) scientist has developed a partnership with colleagues in South Africa that is improving prospects for cattle breeders in that African nation—and could improve them for breeders around the world.

Efforts by Mike MacNeil, an Agricultural Research Service (ARS) geneticist at the agency's Fort Keogh Livestock and Range Research Laboratory in Miles City, Montana, are designed to equip South Africa's scientists with better research tools to help cattle breeders and farmers in remote, underdeveloped areas. ARS is USDA's principal intramural scientific research agency, and this research supports the USDA priority of promoting international food security.

Much of the research focuses on Nguni cattle, an indigenous breed popular among poor and emerging farmers in South Africa because of its fertility, tolerance to harsh conditions, resistance to ticks and tolerance to tick-borne diseases. In a recent study, MacNeil and his colleagues examined ways to address a chronic problem: Nguni that are too small and deposit too much fat before reaching market weight, making them undesirable for commercial feedlot operations.

They examined factors that breeders could consider in trying to improve progeny of their Nguni cows by mating them with larger and beefier Angus and Charolais bulls. The resulting crossbred ideally would retain the Nguni toughness and adaptability, but would take on the improved beef aspects of the Angus and Charolais sires. The research, published in the South African Journal of Animal Science, built on MacNeil's work at Fort Keogh on development of crossbreeding systems and breeding objectives for U.S. domestic breeds.

Olivia Mapholi, a scientist with the South African Agricultural Research Council who studied under MacNeil at Fort Keogh, continues to consult him as she searches for quantitative trait loci (QTLs), or areas of the cattle genome, that confer the ability to tolerate tick-borne diseases. Mapholi is crossing tick-resistant Nguni with tick-susceptible Angus and is looking for genes that confer resistance to ticks. Her research could benefit beef production in any part of the world where ticks are a problem, including the United States.

USDA-ARS

Better grazing practices hold key to Kenyan droughts

by David Western

Failed rains have tipped the balance from poverty to starvation for 12 million in the Horn of Africa. But they don't explain the depth of the tragedy, any more than the growing threat of climate change explains the recent decades of rangeland deterioration.

Early warning systems have improved greatly since the Sahelian disaster of the 1970s. Several agencies, including the Famine Early Warning System Network (FEWS NET), predicted severe drought in 2011.

But proxy measures don't predict the depth of droughts. In contrast, data we've collected in southern Kenya over the past four decades with community resource assessors not only show the necessity of monitoring pasture on the ground, but also point to the causes of worsening droughts.

Such data also show that a successful transition from faltering subsistence economies to self-sustaining development depends on addressing the human causes of the tragedy.

Pasture shortages

Pasture in Kenya has declined steadily since the 1980s, and has recovered more slowly with each successive drought as pressures on land have grown. Livestock cycles now determine pasture abundance and the depth of drought far better than rainfall.

Traditional pastures set aside for periods of drought were exhausted by years of compressed grazing long before the rains failed in 2009, with the result that pasture shortages have grown more common and last longer, despite no drop in rainfall. As a result, Kenya's rangelands were abandoned as herders dispersed to the highlands and into neighbouring states in search of forage. Two-thirds of their livestock died in the process, yet this drew little attention in the media or from politicians.

Droughts are now spreading faster and persisting longer as herders move farther in search of pasture, and social bonds and networks break down. Pastures are recovering slower as herders and speculators truck in and re-stock herds with animals from elsewhere.

Traditional practices

Traditional grazing practices in the rangelands demonstrate the adaptability of pastoralism, and gives pointers to how the problems in the rangelands can be addressed.

Pastoralism is an efficient way of using land in arid regions. Like wildlife herds, herders get larger milk yields and higher rates of calf survival by migrating to the greenest pastures and using drought reserves during harsh times.

Seasonal livestock movements give pastures time to recover, enabling them to support large herds and a high human population in dry regions. Wide social networks, as well as close reciprocal ties among neighbours and neighbouring clans, insulate the individual herder against bad times.

All this allows herders to spread their risk and restock their herds faster than a solitary rancher in fenced rangelands...

Systemic problems

So why is there a now crisis in eastern Africa?

The capacity of pastoral economies has been overwhelmed by a ten-fold rise in pastoral population over the last century. Per capita livestock holdings have shrunk, and pastoralist lands and water resources have been annexed for parks, farms and towns. Shrinking lands, restricted movements and persistent grazing are weakening grass growth.

In short, the environmental problems faced by the pastoral lands are systemic.

But 2011 should not have been the tragedy it is: a press release by the Kenya Meteorological Department, for example, shows that four of six stations in northern Kenya had higher rainfall deficits in the 1980s and 1990s than in the last two years.

The current tragedy stems from the remoteness and marginalisation of the northern pastoralists, as well as the effects of civil war, banditry, soaring food prices, mismanagement of national grain reserves and political failure.

Foundations for development

There are no quick fixes for these drought-prone areas. The main priority is to get food and health care to the starving millions. But beyond emergency relief, we must lay the foundations of sustainable development in the marginal lands.

Development will falter unless built on two pillars. First, the land and resource rights of marginalised pastoralists that were usurped by governments must be restored. Property rights will give back to pastoralists the security of tenure needed to conserve resources against outsiders, to counter droughts, to invest in the land and to leverage capital inputs for development. Pastoralists in southern Kenya who have been granted such rights are developing fast, and famine has receded in this region, despite severe droughts.

Second, the institutions and governance that underpin development must be based on common interests. The land-owners associations that have sprung up in Kenya over the last decade show how locally-adapted, self-assembling governance can promote development. These associations have re-established grass banks and seasonal grazing regimes, conservancies, ecotourism, cattle associations, enterprise groups, community scouts, and resources assessors, as well as Lale'enok information centres that gather and deploy information about development opportunities.

Pastoralists are also benefitting from modern technology. For example, cell phones link up community members, and provide both market information and mobile banking facilities. The landowner associations have now come together as the Kenya Rangeland Coalition to mobilise community conservation development initiatives.

If these two pillars of development are built on strong reciprocal ties, mutual interests and the skill of local communities in governing their own resources, famine will recede, the economic transition will be self-sustaining, and climate change will become more manageable.

David Western is Chairman of the African Conservation Centre, in Nairobi, Kenya.

SciDev.net

Kenyan herders kill animals as drought worsens

Butchered sheep and goats are strung up in a thorn tree ready for cooking in this remote north Kenyan village, as though the people are preparing a giant celebration feast.

But there is no party here and the mood is grim: in desperation, the villagers are killing the animals upon which their lives depend, rather than see them die in the extreme drought sweeping the region.

“We are not happy to have to kill our animals,” said Elema Warrio, an elderly herder, looking on sadly at the 25 carcasses, the latest to be killed in a weekly cull. “We would be happy if there was grazing and water for them, but since we don’t have a choice, we can only kill them,” he added.

Some 12 million people across the Horn of Africa are struggling from the worst drought in decades, with two regions in southern Somalia in famine. Tens of thousands of people have died, as the international community scramble to provide emergency relief.

“This is the worst drought we have had, and we have lost hope of seeing rain,” said Galgalo Wato, a herder and father of seven, waving at the vast and dusty scrubland surrounding the village of 700 people. The land here is too dry for crop farming, and the community depends entirely on animals for their livelihoods.

“In previous droughts we would lose 20 or 30 animals, but then the rains would come and the calves would be born,” Wato added. “It was never as long as this.”

From a herd of 120 cows, 80 goats and seven donkeys once used to carry water, Wato has just three calves left.

“They are the only hope I have,” he said sadly, stroking the flank of one of the precious animals, which stay in the front half of the family’s grass thatch hut.

His family now survive off monthly handouts from the World Food Programme; some grain, cooking oil, beans and other basic goods.

“It is not enough at all,” he added. “That is only for survival.”

But there is little alternative. With so many people desperate to cash in their livestock — which for the pastoralist life, is all the community’s wealth — the market has collapsed.

Here in the Sololo district of northern Kenya, prices have slumped by two-thirds, but several herders say they often cannot even sell their thin and sickly animals at all.

“They are not interested in the market in the animals,” Warrio said.

The few animals still left in the village’s thorn-walled cattle enclosure show their ribs and bones sharp through their skin.

So aid agencies support the slaughtering of animals, providing cash payments closer to earlier market rates for those who volunteer to cull their herd, and then handing the meat out to the most needy in the community.

“The animals would probably die soon with the drought anyway,” said Ibrahim Adan, who heads a local aid agency running the slaughter scheme in the region for the past five months, a programme funded by the European Union.

“So de-stocking has two benefits; injecting cash into the economy so that the people can buy goods in the market, and providing food for the vulnerable households.”

Once the animals are butchered, lines of mothers dressed in colourful wraps and carrying young children line up.

Fifty families each get half a sheep or goat, much of which will be dried in the baking sun to store it, so it can be rationed for the coming days.

But few are hopeful of relief from the drought any time soon, the animals here are running out, and the community is eating the livestock it needs for long-term survival.

Without outside help, the community would collapse. Aid agencies now also supply water tankers to truck in water for the community.

Before, women and children had to trek 22 kilometres (14 miles) with the community’s remaining donkeys through the baking heat to reach the nearest water point still running.

Giant plastic water tanks are also being set up to store rainwater — when it comes.

But the next rains are not due for another three or four months, and the peope are not optimistic for the future.

“Things are not well here,” said Warrio. “If the next rains do not come, what will we do then?”

Capital FM

Agriterra update of Mozambique grain processing and cattle ranching operations

Agriterra Ltd, an AIM-listed company focussed on the agricultural sector in central and southern Africa, is pleased to announce a positive update on its grain processing and cattle ranching operations in Mozambique.

Operations at the main DECA facility at Chimoio continue to perform strongly with demand for product above average historical levels

Sales of processed maize meal for October and November totalled US$2.5 million

Demand for bran, the milling by-product used primarily for animal feed, is increasing weekly, both from local consumers and for export to Zimbabwe

At the Compagri facility in the Tete Province, both buying and processing operations continue to be ramped up.

The export market for maize meal produced at Compagri is increasing and it is currently processing an order for 3,000 tonnes of grain and 1,000 tonnes of maize meal for Zimbabwe. Maize meal deliveries to Zimbabwe are now being made and local sales are also increasing.

The Vanduzi feedlot has commenced limited production with the first animals delivered for slaughter to the Beira abattoir in early December. Slaughter dress out weight percentages were between 58% and 63% which is approximately 10% above expected rates. Average sale price achieved per animal was more than US$900.

Demand for quality beef on the local market continues to significantly exceed supply and the Company is aggressively expanding its feedlot operation to help meet this demand.

Maize planting is underway on 200 hectares of recently cleared land to supply feed to the feedlot.

Negotiations with abattoir suppliers based in Holland are underway in order to secure the Company’s own slaughtering facilities. Further feed pens are under construction and bush clearing programmes are progressing well.

The Dombe and Mavonde ranches have recorded 238 calves born in recent months with more expected and all cattle are regarded as being in exceptionally good condition. Scaling up buying operations of Beefmaster cattle with a target herd size of 10,000 head

Agriterra Executive Director Euan Kay said, “We remain extremely upbeat about our operations in Mozambique, in particular with the progress made at Mozbife. The sale of our first cattle at in excess of US$900 per carcass emphasises the financial returns possible for an established beef ranching operation in Mozambique and the huge potential of Mozbife. Birth rates are strong and with development in all areas of the business progressing at pace, including securing our own feed and negotiating the establishment of an abattoir, we believe these early successes will continue and that we will fulfil our aim of becoming one of the country’s largest producers of beef. This will greatly complement our maize processing operations which are performing well ahead of our expectations both in the domestic supply and export areas.”

Agro-investor seeks funds to expand Mozambique beef operations

Agriterra Ltd, the AIM-listed company focussed on the agricultural sector in central and southern Africa, announces that it has conditionally raised US$7 million (before expenses) by way of a placing of 145 million  new  shares in the company.  The funds raised will be used primarily to expand the company’s cattle ranching and feedlot production business in Mozambique and for general working capital.

Agriterra Executive Director Euan Kay said, “Our cattle ranching operations continue to progress rapidly, with total head of cattle now exceeding 1,600 across our two ranches which cover more than 15,000 hectares. Following the Centro de Promocao de Investimentos approval (Major Project Investment Approval) from the Government of Mozambique in October, we plan to aggressively move forward with our expansion plans.

Rinderpest livestock virus has been wiped out, scientists say

by Pallab Ghosh

Scientists working for the UN say that they have eradicated a virus which can be deadly to cattle.

If confirmed, rinderpest would become only the second viral disease - after smallpox - to have been eliminated by humans.

Rinderpest was once prevalent in the Middle East, Africa and Asia.

The UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has said that it will now suspend its efforts to track and eliminate the virus. The FAO said it was "confident" the virus has been eradicated from those parts of the world where it is prevalent.

When the disease arrived in Africa at the end of the nineteenth century between 80% and 90% of cattle and buffalo on the continent were killed.

The eradication of the virus has been described as the biggest achievement in veterinary history and one which will save the lives and livelihoods of millions of the poorest people in the world.

Dr John Anderson from the Institute for Animal Health (IAH) at Pirbright, UK, who has been involved with the eradication programme, said: "For too long people have been involved in controlling diseases and not actually dreaming that it is possible to eradicate a disease from the world. And with Rinderpest we did."

The latest FAO progress report on the rinderpest eradication programme said: "As of mid 2010, FAO is confident that the rinderpest virus has been eliminated from Europe, Asia, Middle East, Arabian Peninsula, and Africa."

These are the regions afflicted by the viral disease in the recent past.

A formal announcement on the eradication of rinderpest is expected to be made by the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) next year.

Dr Anderson and his colleagues at the IAH helped develop a simple way to test cattle to see if they had the disease. The test, which was developed with the support of the UK's Department for International Development, was designed to be used by local people in the field and to give reliable results within minutes. It proved highly effective and the technology has been rolled out across Africa. This was particularly important in the later stages of the programme when pockets of the virus remained in war-torn areas of southern Sudan and Somalia.

Dr Mike Baron of the IAH said that it had been too dangerous for outsiders to enter those areas. Experts, he said, would train locals - so called 'barefoot vets' - to recognise the disease and administer vaccines. They would work with nomadic tribesmen in the regions and vaccinate herds "on the move."

Rinderpest is one of the most lethal cattle diseases known to science. Typically, seven out of 10 cattle infected with the disease would die. But in the 1960s, veterinary scientist Walter Plowright developed a workable vaccine, allowing the disease to be brought under control.

But to begin with there was little to no co-ordination. Individual countries and groups of countries would attempt to vaccinate cattle, suppressing the disease for a while. But it would then re-appear.

Progress was only made once large unified projects were established to tackle the disease.

"It's an enormously important achievement because it highlights what can be done by people working together," Dr Baron said.

"It has also taken a disease which has been a huge threat to the livelihood of people and removed it."

BBC

Senegal acquires vaccines against cattle disease

Senegalese Livestock Minister Oumou Khairy Guèye Seck on October 17 handed over vaccines worth FCFA27 million to the officials in charge of the control of the bovine nodular dermatitis in the country. The disease, which affects particularly bovine animals, including cows and buffaloes, broke out last August in Senegal.

Since then, the Senegalese government has released some FCFA500 million to provide free treatment to the livestock across the country.

The minister said that 500,000 doses of the vaccine had been ordered from Mali for distribution in the various regions.

Ten regions in Senegal are being plagued by foot and mouth disease and the bovine nodular dermatitis, which have already killed 361 heads of cattle with the region of Saint-Louis worst hit with 3, 885 cases and 191 deaths.

FCFA3 billion was allocated to the Livestock ministry under the 2009 budget to modernise the department and fight diseases threatening the country's livestock.

Afriquenligne

Zimbabwe exports $35 million of beef to EU annually

Zimbabwe has earned more than US$35 million annually from beef exports over the last few years but there is need to continue upgrading the cattle industry, an official at the Livestock Identification Trust has said.

In an interview at the just-ended Harare Agricultural Show, Livestock Identification Trust administrator Ms Avril Garlsson said the country earned the foreign currency under its Lome Convetion quota. The convention is a trade and aid agreement between the European Union and the African Caribbean and Pacific States.

"For a number of years, Zimbabwe has benefited from a preferential trading quota under the Lome Convention and the importance of the EU beef export market to the Zimbabwean cattle industry cannot be overemphasised. This market earns more than US$35 million annually," Ms Garsson said.

She said the Livestock Identification Trust is a company that seeks to expedite and promote cattle traceability in the country to ensure compliance with the EU regulations to boost the country’s beef exports. The company was a joint effort between the Commercial Farmers Union, the Indigenous Commercial Farmers Union and the Zimbabwe Farmers Union.

Its sole responsibility is to issue ear tags, maintain a computerised database of all cattle tagged and subsequently moved, sold, slaughtered or that could have died, as well as issues passports for export.

Garsson noted that one of the major challenges in the cattle industry has been the lack of meaningful data collection. "The installation of the Zimbabwe Cattle Traceability Scheme computer network now can be consolidated into one single database that will provide information for the benefit of producers, researchers, commodity associations, processors and consumers," she said, adding that the scheme was accepted by buyers in Europe.

She said another computer programme, which was highly sophisticated was also being developed with specialised beef performance components for Zimbabwe, South Africa and Ireland.

Ms Garsson said since January 2 000, the Livestock Identification Trust had also been keeping data for the Zimbabwe Dairy Services Association for their Milk Recording Scheme.

"Dairy producers in Zimbabwe now have access to one of the most sophisticated milk recording programmes in the world through which management information is provided on a monthly basis," she said.

The Livestock Identification Trust was also working towards converting the existing Herd Book pedigree livestock records onto the Integrated Registration and Information System programme.

"Once this is complete, the Livestock Identification Trust will then be able to maintain records of all pedigree livestock in Zimbabwe under the auspices of the Zimbabwe Herd Book," she said.

The Herald

Zimbabwe to rebuild depleted cattle herd

Zimbabwe's Cold Storage Company (CSC) is offering cattle breeders tenders to rent grazing farms as the parastatal moves towards rebuilding the national herd, it has been learnt.

CSC is offering farmers, with capacity to maintain the farms, space at Winterblock in Nyamandlovu, Maphaneni in Kezi, Dubane in Gwanda, Mushandike in Masvingo, Darwendale in Harare and Chivumburu in Mwenezi.

“The lease period is negotiable between the CSC and the farmer,” said Ms Patience Madambi, CSC public relations officer. She said CSC would offer these tenders to farmers with the capacity to maintain the farms.

“First and foremost, the tender is for farmers with breeding stock. Those who expect to be considered for the tender must have the capacity to maintain fencing, fire guards and any other equipment and tools lent to him or her during the contract period,” she said.

Early this year, the CSC board chairman, Professor Lindile Ndlovu, announced that the company was set to embark on a massive restocking exercise aimed at increasing its yearly livestock slaughtering to about 30 000 beasts. The leasing of farms is part of the steps to build that capacity.

Ms Madambi said under the programme CSC would also consider offering expert advise to the farmers. “The farmer will be expected to have adequate manpower as well as the technical capacity to manage his or her own herd. Naturally the number of cattle the farmer has will determine the amount of grazing area he will be entitled to,” she said.

The long-term benefits to CSC for this arrangement are that the company expects to receive payment in the form of calves. “The CSC will expect to receive payment in the form of progeny or calves in exchange for grazing. May l stress that the CSC is only accepting breeding stock from which it expects to harvest at least 20 percent on an annual basis,” she said. She said farmers were, however, welcome to improve on the 20 percent in their bids.

CSC has over the years- and in particular during drought periods, offered grazing at its ranches for a minimal fee.

The company is the country’s sole authorized beef procurer, processor and marketing company with five state of the art abattoirs. It also boasts of three selling and distribution centres in one meat canning plant in Bulawayo.

Ms Madambi said taking up tenders at the farms had over the years benefited farmers in that their animals graze within a secured environment, which had all the basic requirements that include safe drinking water, and should it be required, expert guidance from CSC’s resident ranch managers.

“Over the years and as part of its mandate, the CSC has managed to offer its facilities in order to prevent farmers from losing their animals during drought spells,” she said. Madambi said this facility by CSC was available to all cattle producers who had a long-term vision to increase not only their personal wealth and credibility as serious cattle farmers, but also had a dedication towards increasing the national cattle herd through breeding.

In the past years, as a result of the dwindling national herd, CSC has been struggling to find cattle to slaughter. The company has engaged in efforts to encourage rural communities to bring forward their livestock for slaughter. 80 percent of CSC’s supplies come from rural farmers.

Last year government availed money to the company to increase capacity utilization and ensure that the company meets demand for beef. The company has turned to the Far East, clinching export deals in Hong Kong, in search of new markets in order to raise forex to stay afloat.

Sunday News

Joint venture investment set to modernize Tanzanian beef industry

A joint venture between US and Tanzanian investors focuses on the establishment of a commercial beef production company in the East African country. The joint venture, Triple S Beef, Ltd.(TSB, Ltd.), will help to modernize the agricultural sector of Tanzania by providing much needed technological and scientific updates.

"The social-economic liberalization policies and institutional reforms in Tanzania have created an enabling environment for private investors," said Brent Butler, COO of MasterPlans, the US company hired to put together the project's business plan. "Tanzania offers great opportunities and an abundance of natural wealth, providing tremendous investment opportunities for investors."

"Basic industries, such as meat packing, provide new income to a locality by exporting goods and services to people outside of the locality," said Gary Stowe, founder of TSB, Ltd. "Furthermore, we see our business directly affecting the local economy by expanding the local agriculture and related industries, and providing needed education."

The company will also spearhead several training initiatives in the area. For example, they will present genetic improvement programs to area ranchers and will also train regional ranchers in cattle behavior, especially in relation to the effective and humane transport of livestock. The company will also impact several other sectors including ranching and farming through the use of energy and water saving techniques.

In addition, TSB, Ltd. will develop a labor pool management program and human resource training initiatives to quickly adapt the indigenous people to modern farming, ranching, and meat packing techniques. Training initiatives will also educate local farmers and ranchers on crop and animal development techniques. TSB, Ltd. will also work to develop educational programs to help individuals mitigate their chances of contracting HIV/AIDS. Programs will not only be offered to employees, but will also be offered throughout villages where the company has a potential labor pool.

Portland Daily Business News

Drought takes a toll on Namibian livestock farming

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.

New Era