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Mashudu Netsianda, Senior Reporter

“I am hopeful that by year-end I will be having four cattle since one of them is already pregnant. I am grateful to the President because I am now a proud owner of cattle unlike in the past when I used to rely on my neighbours especially during the planting season”

When Ms Takalani Moyo (62) of Mazunga village in Beitbridge District lost her husband six years ago, it marked the beginning of a sad chapter in her life.
She thought her life was doomed forever.

The death of her husband had a devastating effect as it left her with an emotional and financial emptiness.

Just when she thought she had re-adjusted from the harsh reality of losing a life partner and a breadwinner her son, who was also a widower, passed on, placing an additional burden of sustaining his three children on her shoulders.

Seated in front of her tiny grass thatched hut, Ms Moyo recalls, with a look of sombreness crossing her face, the struggles she went through, the twists and turns of fate, which saw her lead a miserable life.

“I am too old to look for employment and so I would literally hop from one home to another looking for assistance from relatives and well-wishers. I could not manage to raise enough money for food to feed my orphaned grandchildren hence I relied on handouts from relatives and well wishers,” she says with sadness that still lingers.

However, June 22 marked the dawn of a new era for Ms Moyo when President Emmerson Mnangagwa handed over 660 heifers to farmers from Matabeleland South during the official launch of the Command Livestock programme in the province at Gwanda Showgrounds.

The cattle, which comprised mostly of Brahman, Brano and cross Brahman breeds, are part of the 1 660 cattle allocated to the province under the scheme.
Ms Moyo is one of the 151 beneficiaries from the province’s seven districts.

She could not hide her tears of joy when The Chronicle spoke to her last week.

Ms Moyo said she is confident that her life is set to be transformed after receiving two heifers and a calf. She said the cattle will help her carve out a new life for herself and her three orphaned grandchildren.

“I am so delighted because the President has economically empowered me and I don’t even know how I can thank him. My husband died in 2012 and two years later my son followed, leaving behind three children and I have shouldered the responsibility of looking after them. I believe these cattle will certainly help me raise money for food and school fees for my grandchildren,” she said with a wide smile.

Ms Moyo is lucky as one of the heifers that she received is pregnant.

Another beneficiary of the Command Livestock programme, Ms Merioline Nkomo (43), a widow from Thornwood Village in Gwanda District, said she got three heifers and a calf.

She said the cattle will help her raise school fees for her four children.

“These cattle will help me raise money for school fees. I will invest all the earnings from this project to my children’s education because since the death of my husband in 2012, I have been struggling to pay fees. These cattle will increase and enable me to raise money to fend for my family since I will also be able to sell surplus milk,” she said.

“I am hopeful that by year-end I will be having four cattle since one of them is already pregnant. I am grateful to the President because I am now a proud owner of cattle unlike in the past when I used to rely on my neighbours especially during the planting season.”

Mr Philip Ndou (52), a resettled farmer in Beitbridge, was all smiles as he led The Chronicle news crew to his cattle pen.

“I got two heifers and a calf under the Command Livestock and these animals will certainly boost my kraal. I have always been a cattle farmer because this part of the country receives low  rainfall so we depend largely on animal husbandry,” he said.

Mr Ndou, a father of six, who lost his job as a toll collector at the Zimbabwe National Roads Administration (Zinara) in 2015, said the Command Livestock programme has created new economic opportunities for him.

He is one of the workers who were affected following a ruling by the Supreme Court in the Zuva Petroleum saga, which gave the green light for employers to unilaterally dismiss their workers on three months’ notice without paying a retrenchment package.

Mr Ndou hailed the President for initiating the programme, saying his people-oriented policies will alleviate poverty and boost livestock production in the country.

The distribution of cattle under Government’s Livestock, Fisheries and Wildlife Programme is in full swing with a number of farmers in Matabeleland region having received their animals.

While launching the programme in Matabeleland South, President Mnangagwa also revealed that $10 million had been channelled towards the programme, which was going to be shared by Matabeleland North and South.

Livestock farmers from all sectors — communal to A2 and institutions including churches, prisons and police farms across the country are expected to benefit.

A2 farmers are expected to anchor the programme. It will cover all aspects of livestock such as beef cattle, dairy cows, pigs, sheep, goats, fish, wildlife and small stock such as poultry and rabbits.

The fund will also go towards foot-and-mouth disease fences, resuscitation and establishment of dip tanks, watering points and livestock infrastructure.

Those who benefit repay after five years.

President Mnangagwa said the Government had also increased the funding of the Presidential Inputs Support Scheme from $30 million to $487 million as it moves a gear up to increase productivity in the agriculture sector.

The Command Agriculture element is being implemented in regions based on their ecological systems.

The President said it was important for Government to put forward a programme for those who were willing to be empowered.

He said the Command Livestock initiative will cover those interested in piggery, fisheries, ruminants and poultry, among others.

The President added that livestock production was a step in the right direction since Government was in the process of reviving the Cold Storage Company (CSC). — @mashnets