GOVERNMENT has with immediate effect banned household cattle sales and urged farmers to use village business unit (VBUs) auctions to curb panic selling of animals instigated by last season's El Nino-induced drought.
Speaking during a press conference held in Harare yesterday, Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development Deputy Minister Vangelis Haritatos said cattle sales would be conducted through ward based business unit sales pens.
"The Government wishes to declare that no sales be conducted at household level but through the village based business unit sale pens," he said.
The development comes in the wake of reports of panic selling of animals by farmers as the move to escape poverty deaths among cattle due to the drought caused by the El Nino weather phenomenon that hit the country in the 2023/23 season.
"The Government has created village business units at ward level to assist farmers realise the best value for their animals during sales," said Dep Min Haritatos.
Zimbabwe is faced with the worst drought experienced in the past 40 years, hence the Government's decision to declare a state of disaster recently.
The results of the of the second crop and livestock assessment held in April indicated fair grazing and adequate drinking water availability for up to nine months in the good areas and against three months in the worst affected areas.
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The assessment also established that during the 2023/24 lean El Nino season, the drier parts of the country had about 2 882 710 cattle with 1 488 523 of this figure declared to be at risk.
"For this reason the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development has developed a myriad of drought mitigation strategies to prevent losses in all livestock species including beef, dairy cattle, pigs, goats, sheep and poultry," said the Dep Min.
"Preparation are still underway to capacitate VBUs to hold livestock sales with at least 900 so far confirmed ready," he said.
To ensure success of sales at the business units, the Government will coordinate ward based sales and bring in buyers including abattoir operators, hence the move to facilitate the development of a model that will be applied to all these business units countrywide.
The other services that will be offered at the VBUs include fodder production, feed formulation and processing of fodder. There will also be watering points for livestock and feed lot facilities at the VBUs.
All these will be supported by multi-purpose solar powered boreholes that will be drilled at the sites, added Dep Min Haritatos.
