Drought hits Mangetti farmers hard
The Mangetti Farmers' Association is organising a livestock auction in January for farmers who managed to pull their cattle through the drought.
It has been a tough year for cattle farmers in the Mangetti area, who have lost hundreds of cattle to drought.
According to Tomas Ndiwakalunga of the Mangetti Farmers' Association (MFA), the recent onset of the rainy season brought some relief and new grass is germinating.
Ndiwakalunga says the Mangetti farmers had to cope without any government assistance and managed to save only a few of their cattle.
Mangetti farmers have been accused of keeping hundreds of cattle on their farms without contributing to Namibia's GDP. Repeated appeals to them to reduce their herds had little effect.
“The Mangetti area was affected by drought, but not as severely as many areas of the country. Our farmers have large numbers of cattle and they could not benefit from the government drought aid which is channelled through regional councillors' offices,” Ndiwakalunga said.
“The drought aid … was for those with fewer than 26 cattle, therefore our farmers did not qualify. They therefore went for the second option of claiming refunds from the government for what they spent on fodder or for the loss of cattle. Until now the government has not responded to the claims.”
Ndiwakalunga said the MFA was organising a livestock auction in January for farmers who managed to pull their cattle through the drought.
Before the drought took a turn for the worse, some farmers were willing to sell some of their livestock, but they could not because there was no market and the Oshakati abattoir was not yet in operation.
The Ondonga Traditional Authority's junior traditional councillor, Kashona Malulu, says some farmers lost all their cattle to the drought.
He says some are now trying to relocate their cattle from Mangetti to areas that have received better rain.
Many prominent Namibians are farming in the Mangetti area. After the second national land conference, the ministry of land reform started allocating leasehold rights to farmers in the area.
According to the Directorate of Veterinary Services, there are 200 000 cattle in the area.
Farmers in this area are accused of not putting their livestock to any economic use as they only slaughter them for weddings and funerals.
Although the area is north of the veterinary cordon fence, farmers there were expected to be farming commercially by now.
There is a block of 96 farms that were allocated by government in the 1980s, while four were kept by the agriculture ministry for the Okapya LDC.
ILENI NANDJATO
According to Tomas Ndiwakalunga of the Mangetti Farmers' Association (MFA), the recent onset of the rainy season brought some relief and new grass is germinating.
Ndiwakalunga says the Mangetti farmers had to cope without any government assistance and managed to save only a few of their cattle.
Mangetti farmers have been accused of keeping hundreds of cattle on their farms without contributing to Namibia's GDP. Repeated appeals to them to reduce their herds had little effect.
“The Mangetti area was affected by drought, but not as severely as many areas of the country. Our farmers have large numbers of cattle and they could not benefit from the government drought aid which is channelled through regional councillors' offices,” Ndiwakalunga said.
“The drought aid … was for those with fewer than 26 cattle, therefore our farmers did not qualify. They therefore went for the second option of claiming refunds from the government for what they spent on fodder or for the loss of cattle. Until now the government has not responded to the claims.”
Ndiwakalunga said the MFA was organising a livestock auction in January for farmers who managed to pull their cattle through the drought.
Before the drought took a turn for the worse, some farmers were willing to sell some of their livestock, but they could not because there was no market and the Oshakati abattoir was not yet in operation.
The Ondonga Traditional Authority's junior traditional councillor, Kashona Malulu, says some farmers lost all their cattle to the drought.
He says some are now trying to relocate their cattle from Mangetti to areas that have received better rain.
Many prominent Namibians are farming in the Mangetti area. After the second national land conference, the ministry of land reform started allocating leasehold rights to farmers in the area.
According to the Directorate of Veterinary Services, there are 200 000 cattle in the area.
Farmers in this area are accused of not putting their livestock to any economic use as they only slaughter them for weddings and funerals.
Although the area is north of the veterinary cordon fence, farmers there were expected to be farming commercially by now.
There is a block of 96 farms that were allocated by government in the 1980s, while four were kept by the agriculture ministry for the Okapya LDC.
ILENI NANDJATO
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