Christof Maletsky
18 August 2003
Windhoek — FARMERS in parts of the South have started losing livestock because of poor grazing conditions, the Southern Namibia Farmers Union (Snafu) said on Friday.
Snafu Regional Chairperson August Bloodstaan told The Namibian that the organisation had received reports that livestock in the Blouwes, Berseba, Gibeon, Karasburg and Bethanie areas were dying because of drought-related illnesses.
He said the farmers union would visit several areas today to assess the situation before providing The Namibian with more details.
The Namibia Early Warning and Food Information System of the Emergency Management Unit (EMU) recently described the grazing and livestock situation in the Karas, Hardap and Omaheke Regions as critical.
"Resulting from the drought situation ... a number of households have already lost a substantial number of livestock due to outbreak of diseases and extremely poor grazing," Bloodstaan said in a statement.
He said over the last six months livestock prices have dropped to unprecedented levels.
"The communal farmers are forced to sell their livestock at giveaway prices as they are under pressure to obtain income to address domestic concerns such as school fees and food security," he said.
The prices of domestic commodities, such as maize meal, have also increased, he added.
Earlier Snafu called on farmers in the South to reduce their livestock numbers because of the drought or face an economic disaster.
Bloodstaan called on the Government to re-introduce a subsidy, provide the farmers with fodder, or give them incentives to sell their animals.
Recently, the Namibia Agricultural Union (NAU) appealed to commercial farmers to sell some livestock.
The NAU said there was not enough grazing to sustain all stock through the drought.
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