Mmegi

FMD-hit farmers demand access to Tati land

New normal: Travellers at the Jackalas No 1 border gate dip their shoes against FMD PICS: KENNEDY RAMOKONE
New normal: Travellers at the Jackalas No 1 border gate dip their shoes against FMD PICS: KENNEDY RAMOKONE

As the Foot and Mouth Disease rages in the North-East, farmers are demanding access to the 45,000-hectare Tati Farms area that government bought two years ago for P1.4 billion. That area would provide a buffer from the threats along the border with Zimbabwe. LARONA MAKHAIZA, LESEDI MKHUTSHWA & KENNEDY RAMOKONE report

For farmers in Zone 6B, the ongoing Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) outbreak is not just veterinary crises. It is an economic and emotional blow that continues to shape their daily reality.

With cattle movement still tightly regulated and grazing space shrinking, farmers from Jackalas 1 are now appealing for government to hurry up and allocate them a portion of the 45,000 hectares the State purchased from the Tati Company.

Editor's Comment
FMD management: A ticking time bomb

“The trouble with government regulation of the market is that it prohibits capitalistic acts between consenting adults.”~ Robert NozickWhile government must contain the disease, it must also confront the growing economic hardship caused by its response. For many rural households, cattle remain a source of livelihood and the only means for tending for thousands of families, and for these kind of people the longer the restrictions continue, the...

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