FMD recurrence reignites painful memories

One of the affected farmers, the owner of Dzapela 2 Farm in Tshesebe village, Aggrey Makhila, has shared with Mmegi the pain of restocking time and again due to the recurrence of FMD in the region. Makhila was one of the farmers who lost 30 cattle worth about P130,000 in 2011 when the government took a decision to depopulate in order to control FMD. Over the past decades, farming has not been that rewarding for Makhila and other farmers since their livestock is being killed once again due to FMD.

Makhila, who has been a farmer for the last two decades, has suffered from financial and social problems which he attributes to the perpetual outbreak of FMD in Zone 6. The worried farmer told Mmegi that FMD has and continues to bring pain and misery to his life. “I have lost my father due to the stress after his cattle were killed following the outbreak of FMD in 2011. My father succumbed to a heart attack after his expensive bull worth P40,000 was culled but he was only given a measly P1,700 as compensation. Since then, my family is still haunted by post-FMD trauma,” a worried Makhila said.