South Africa must build bottom-up needs-based policies for communal livestock grazing. ‘Nothing about us without us!’ It’s a popular slogan in development work and one that agricultural policymakers should embrace to ensure their decisions address rural communities’ needs. Recent experience with communal cattle keeping in South Africa is again providing valuable lessons on why and … Continue reading
Category Archives: Southern Africa
Southern Africa academics visit London institute to create new ‘One-health’ courses
Academics from Mozambique, Tanzania and Zambia visited course directors and researchers at two of LIDC’s member Colleges—the Royal Veterinary College and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. The discussions from their meetings during their two-week stay will influence the curricula for courses on analytical epidemiology, and molecular biology of infectious diseases, which will … Continue reading
South African dairy goes green with manure power
Thandeka Mabuza’s small-scale dairy farm, on the banks of the Olifants River, gives off hardly any of the earthy smell you might expect from a thriving dairy operation. But the lack of manure odour is hardly the only benefit from the farm’s pioneering biogas dairy. By using vats to digest cow dung and then harvesting … Continue reading
Non-market values of cattle ‘crucial’ to smallholder dairy farmers in Zimbabwe
When the smallholder dairy farmer looks at a cow, he sees more than just a simple economic asset whose value is reckoned in terms of the milk it produces. What he sees is an asset endowed with an assortment of attributes ranging from the production of milk, manure to fertilize crops, insurance against unforeseen contingencies … Continue reading
Milk improves orphans’ nutrition in Mozambique
Land O’ Lakes reports how the Maforga Christian Mission in Mozambique has improve the nutritional intake of the orphans through a dairy demonstration project. As of December 2009, the Mission’s lactating cows were producing more than 50 liters of fresh milk per day. From August to December, total production reached 5,076 liters of milk. This … Continue reading
Improving access to livestock disease prevention in Mozambique
Although avian influenza and H1N1 have dominated the news for the last few years, many other serious diseases can ravage livestock and rural communities. Newcastle disease, which can wipe out entire flocks of chickens and can spread from farm to farm, is especially devastating for rural farmers in sub-Saharan Africa. Read more … (Nourishing the … Continue reading
Africa / Agriculture / Botswana / Drought / Insurance / Southern Africa
Agriculture insurance finally launched in Botswana
Agriculture insurance has finally been launched for the first time in Botswana with the facilitation of the Agricultural Hub, as the sector tries to move towards full commercialisation. This week, Agrinsure Botswana a joint venture effort between South Africa’s Farmers Technical Insurance Services Company (FTISC) and Alexandra Forbes Botswana, was officially unveiled to stakeholders in … Continue reading
Zimbabwe reports anthrax outbreak
Zimbabwe’s Agriculture Ministry on Tuesday reported a fresh outbreak of anthrax in some parts of the country. Veterinary Services director Stewart Hargreaves told ZimOnline that his department has recorded fresh reports of an outbreak of the deadly livestock disease. “There has been an outbreak over the past two weeks. The outbreak has been recorded in … Continue reading
Zambia government to establish livestock disease-free zones
GOVERNMENT will this year establish disease-free zones in three provinces in order to control major livestock diseases and improve livestock productivity with enhanced provision of infrastructure. It is expected that within the zone and its borders, appropriate official veterinary control would be effectively applied for animals and animal products and their transportation. Read more … … Continue reading
Zimbabwe: An economy running on chickens
Every fortnight Makaitei Musakwa, 45, catches one of her chickens, picks up some of the maize she has grown, and sets off for the village mill to have the maize ground into mealie-meal, Zimbabwe’s staple food. “It is difficult for me to raise the money that the miller charges … I have nowhere to get … Continue reading
ILRI Clippings 