Drought forces South East farmers out of district

Tsaone Basimanebotlhe | Thursday March 10, 2016 16:20

 

The livestock census for the year 2015/2016 show decrease in the number of cattle from 23,846 in 2014/2015 to approximately 18,000 mainly due to farmers’ relocation to other districts to escape drought in the district. However, the poverty eradication programme has seen an increase in a number of small stock such as sheep and goats.

Assessment Drought report for 2015/2016 has shown that grazing conditions for livestock in the district was poor, because the district is small and experiencing overgrazing.

“The grazing area normally has forbs than grass and currently it is almost bare with a rating of poor to fair because livestock are depending on the tree leaves. Rainfall that was received during November, December 2015 was not enough to improve the grazing condition significantly. Comparatively livestock condition was better in 2014/2015 than in the current financial year (2015/2016),” the principal district officer development, Kgomotso Kesianye said.

Comparatively livestock condition was better in 2014/2015 than in the current financial year 2015/2016.  In the previous year livestock condition was good against poor condition on the current financial year, she said.

In Mogobane village, the situation of water in boreholes and standing water around surface indicates that available water will not sustain the livestock until next season, while Tlokweng dams have dried up.

The report also indicates that water in Otse wells and boreholes would not sustain livestock until the next season. Kesianye said animal feed supplements remain critical towards improvement of the livestock production and the year 2014/2015 Livestock Advisory Centers (LAC) reported an improvement in livestock feed sales and stock compared to year 2015/2016.