Mmegi

Farmers want slice of P97m FMD budget

Mthombeni
Mthombeni

At Jackalas 1 in Zone 6B, the silence around cattle kraals is louder than words. Where livestock once moved freely and small businesses thrived on the back of beef sales, fear, uncertainty and shrinking incomes now dominate. Farmers, vendors and butchery owners here say they feel forgotten, even as government announced a P97 million allocation to respond to the Foot and Mouth Disease outbreak. Mmegi Correspondents LARONA MAKHAIZA and LESEDI MKHUTSWA report

JACKALAS NO. 1: When the Mmegi team descended at the border village this week to hear from the farmers and butchery owners themselves, they had a mouthful to say.

The area has become the epicentre of the country’s latest Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) outbreak, with the suspension of trade, export, slaughter and related activities involving cattle, goats, sheep and pigs across the country.

Editor's Comment
Ruling party should tread carefully on cadre deployment

But on the particularly sensitive question of cadre deployment, the BNF must tread very carefully.The issue deserves robust debate, not ideological enthusiasm. Recent public comments from the BNF leadership are reassuring: the party has said that government positions should be based on merit and competence rather than party membership, and that it does not have a specific cadre-deployment policy.That principle should remain firmly at the centre...

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