Fear, despair as FMD again visits North East
Lesedi Mkhutshwa | Monday February 9, 2026 09:03
A fresh Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) in the North East region, specifically around Jackalas No.1 village, has left farmers devastated, with the dilapidated and vandalised border fence blamed for allowing the virus to spread from Zimbabwe to Botswana.
Farmers are gripped with fear that the economically devastating disease has spread much further than Jackalas, and the Department of Veterinary Services is fast-tracking sampling and testing to determine how far the virus has spread.
The latest outbreak comes after the August 2023 incursion, again from Zimbabwe, which resulted in the government procuring 10,000 cattle to restock the area at a cost of P180 million. One of the last cattle under the restocking was delivered to a farmer last October, just months before the latest outbreak was confirmed.
Farmers in the area were proud of their restocked cattle, which this season enjoyed bountiful rains and glowed with health before the return of a merciless and cruelly predictable virus.
However, the recurrence of FMD in the North East district did not come as a surprise to farmers in the region.
Over the past two decades, the area experienced frequent outbreaks due to a number of reasons amongst them people and elephants destroying the border fence, paving the way for cattle to move freely between Botswana and Zimbabwe, thus spreading the disease.
Even though the outbreak was no surprise, it is no less devastating to farmers.
One of the impacted farmers from Jackalas No.1, Rebecca Dube, stated that they are experiencing sorrow.
“In contrast to the other three FMD episodes, I was extremely hurt this time around,” she told Mmegi.
“Following the outbreak, I found myself visiting the clinic.” Dube added that 11 of her livestock had received vaccinations as of yesterday (Thursday).
She stated that villagers decided to walk to the fence and begin efforts to maintain it themselves because of the pain caused by the situation.
“We are in serious problems because the fencing problem cannot be fixed.
“People keep cutting it,” she said.
Dube said she is placing her hope in the government to try to find a permanent solution.
The chairperson of the Jackalas No.1 Farmers Committee, Dignity Mtobeni, said that the majority of farmers are in a panic and suffering.
“This is not the first time we are dealing with this monstrous virus, and we are simply accepting everything.
“It is regrettable that the farmers were recovering and concentrating on breeding after receiving 533 animals a few months ago as a result of the last FMD outbreak,” he said.
According to Mtobeni, in the current outbreak, about 79 farmers from the village have been affected, although only 36 cattle have thus far been confirmed to have the virus, as at Sunday.
For his part, Alfred Samson, chairman of the Senyawe Farmers Committee Zone 6b – Tsamaya Extension, said they are extremely worried as to whether the area will be in the red or green zone and whether vaccinations will also be administered there.
In local agriculture, a red zone is one from which cattle exports to the European Union cannot occur due to diseases like FMD. The green zone is open to exports and is where farmers can engage in various activities to bulk up their cattle for sale to the Botswana Meat Commission for onward export.
Samson said the area has roughly 30 suspected cases of FMD, which has only made villagers even more anxious as they await final testing and confirmation.
“In order to stop the spread of FMD in the region, the government should think about providing us with grazing area, particularly along the Bisoli farms.
“It is evident that the fence problem will not be resolved anytime soon, so it is critical to look for other permanent solutions to this stressful problem,” he said.
Samson said that although the government has made a sincere effort to improve the border fence, the high rate of cross-border crime has resulted in the barrier being repeatedly damaged.
“This is a painful problem, especially since it has been a little more than two years (since the last outbreak), and we are having the same problem once more.
“I lost four cattle the last time, and they were just restocked last year.
“I lost more cattle last year because of lightning, and now I am dealing with FMD just when I thought things were getting back to normal.
“I am a little hopeless,” he said.
The chairperson of Matsiloje Farmers, Elias Majama, said the majority of local farmers in the area were in a state of panic.
He claimed that in 2011 and 2014, the majority of farmers in the region lost thousands of cattle due to FMD.
“If FMD is confirmed in the region, it will be the fourth time.
“Our farmers were optimistic that they would now recover,” he said.
Majama stated that they were fortunate to be shielded by Bisoli farms when FMD struck the Northeast in 2022.
He revealed that in order to protect their livestock, they are currently patrolling the border. “Everyone in the village is in, and we are doing so effortlessly.
“They know the pain of losing everything to FMD.”
He maintained that farmers made a conscious choice to monitor the border since they were aware that illicit activity had demolished the fence.
According to Majama, the fence has been around for more than 30 years and will eventually need to be replaced because of frequent vandalism and destruction.
Simon Lephalo, a farmer who lost over 400 cattle to FMD previously, said that farmers are living in fear, particularly those who live near the border between Zimbabwe and Botswana.
“Government must strengthen security along the border because we have many illegal immigrants, as well as locals who are crossing the border illegally,” he said.
“Farmers are even afraid to wander about because they fear the illegal miners who pose a threat to their means of subsistence.
“No one can stop these illegal miners, and that illicit gold mining industry is growing on this side.”
The North-East region has become a hive of illicit gold activity, featuring illegal Zimbabwe immigrants and some locals. The illicit activity is focused on old pits that date back to the 1890s around Francistown and is reportedly supported by major gold barons in Zimbabwe and elsewhere.
“Another disadvantage in the fight against FMD is the loss of stray livestock along the border line, which are unidentified.
“In addition, the majority of the village’s livestock drink from the Ramokgwebana and Nwali rivers, which are located near the border.”
As authorities scramble to determine the extent of the disease, farmers here are in a state of fear and despair, barely able to believe that their old enemy has once again breached their defences.