Botswana: Consultations On Zone 11 Sub-Division Ongoing

Loporung — Consultations on sub-dividing Zone 11 are ongoing, says acting Minister of Lands and Agriculture Dr Edwin Dikoloti.

Dr Dikoloti revealed in an interview in Loporung on Friday that the said zone, which covers the Southern part all the way to Dibete Gate and up to Kuke Cordon Fence, needed to be sub-divided such that outbreaks would be manageable.

Dr Dikoloti was in Loporung to visit volunteers from different villages of Borolong and Ngwaketse, who were clearing bushes along the cordon fence. He said Zone 11 was vast hence they were trying to come up with measures of how to manage it easily.

Furthermore, he revealed that the ministry and other stakeholders were looking into creating buffer zones along the cordon fence, which is approximately 182km. Creating the buffer or compartments in form of feedlots, piggery or vegetable gardens, he said would ensure that communal livestock did not come close to the border fence or even cross it.

The compartments, Dr Dikoloti said, were expected to meet certain bio-security measures, saying that would be one way of de-risking and minimising chances of the disease to cross into Botswana.

He further applauded farmers and communities across the country for working in unison with government to ensure that the Foot and Mouth Disease did not spread into Botswana from neighboring countries. If the disease was to spread in the country, he said it would not have affected farmers only, but the national economy as well.

Even though there were calls for vaccination of cattle in Zone 11 instead of culling some animals, he said that would not be a wise move as that would change the status of the zone and downgrade the value of animals. He asserted that it would even change the title of the zone, as it would be now referred to as 'FMD free with vaccination'. He said the move would also change access to the market.

Dr Dikoloti said Botswana Meat Commission was still selling at the European market and Norway save for the meat from the zones where the disease was recently reported. Such zones, he said were 3c, 6B, 6A and zone 7 because of its proximity to Zimbabwe.

He further said President Advocate Duma Boko had urged the ministry to find ways of how best they could work with Zimbabwe to help them vaccinate their cattle, such as looking on reducing the vaccine prices. The move, he said could help in reducing the risk of exposure to the disease. BOPA

BOPA

Read the original article on Botswana Daily News.