Ngami, Okavango Cattle Farmers Get Pay

The 560 farmers started receiving pay last week under the Foot and Mouth Disease Relief Scheme which was initially expected to cost government P36 million. The figure ballooned to over P104 million last year as farmers turned up in huge numbers to trade their cattle.

The NDB Foot and Mouth Relief Fund account was overdrawn by P8.2 million after farmers in the area exhausted the initial P36 million. Government then injected P45 million into the fund to assist 4,863 farmers for 59,486 heads of cattle. However over the last six months, government has not been able to cope with the demand for cash in the Ngami and Okavango area. This led to temporary termination of the project at the beginning of the year.