Livestock, key to growth, poverty reduction

By Pelekelo Liswaniso

AGRICULTURE remains the key to growth and poverty reduction in Zambia as more than 60 per cent of the population derives its livelihood from it.

But it is clear that agricultural development has not received adequate support in the past, hence the deliberate shift by the government to give it the brace it deserves.

Statistics show that in the recent past, Government spending on agriculture has been less that five per cent of the national budget, and less than one per cent of the national Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

This low spending has resulted in the run-down of agricultural infrastructure, poor extension service delivery and has sparked high and repeated incidences of livestock diseases. The effect has been low agricultural productivity and high prevalence of poverty, especially in rural communities.
Livestock production, in particular, which is a common urban and peri-urban income generating activity with potential to reduce poverty among households, has suffered a great deal due to insufficient support.

Outbreaks of the contagious bovine pleuropneumonia (CBPP) in various districts, particularly in Southern and Western provinces, coupled with the foot and mouth disease, have, for example, threatened and significantly reduced the cattle population in these areas.

Reports indicate that the outbreaks are mainly due to uncontrolled cattle movement, coupled with a serious breakdown of animal disease surveillance systems in the country.

Raising cattle, or any other livestock for that matter, is therefore, a risky business in Zambia. A whole range of diseases can easily attack one’s herd with depressing regularity, often killing hundreds, if not thousands, of animals with each outbreak.

In some cases, diseases have wiped out entire herds, leaving the owners, mostly villagers, destitute.

The cost of disease weighs most heavily on the rural poor, who depend on cattle and other animals for their livelihood. Cattle are, in fact, in many areas a traditional store of value, a kind of bank account on hooves.

But despite the ever-looming danger of disease, few farmers vaccinate their animals or, better still, test them for infection. When animals fall sick, they usually die for lack of diagnosis. Medical assistance is rarely available, and when it is, villagers often don’t trust it to work.

Furthermore, there are too few veterinarians in the country, and those available usually work exclusively with large, commercial cattle owners. Most vets have little interest in serving the poor farmers, who are spread out across the countryside. Yet these are the people who need such help more.

President Banda’s statement in Cuba that his administration is in a hurry to fight poverty in rural communities through reducing and eliminating livestock diseases is, therefore, a clear pointer to Government’s resolve to help the poor rural communities.

Mr. Banda was emphatic when he said rural communities in Zambia depend heavily on livestock as a source of income and means of labour for their livelihood, hence the need to fight livestock diseases with renewed vigour.

It is necessary therefore that the existing gaps that have led to a breakdown of animal diseases surveillance systems and poor support to rural farmers are urgently addressed so that the livestock industry can be protected to improve agriculture and reduce poverty in the country.