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Yoliswa Dube-Moyo, Matabeleland South Bureau Chief

GOVERNMENT is committed to capacitating extension workers from the Department of Veterinary Services as part of efforts to improve livestock production.

In Matabeleland South province, tablets and motorbikes have been availed to veterinary services extension workers for use across all wards in the province.

Almost 2,1 million agricultural families are engaged in one or more livestock production enterprises across the country, generating an estimated 19,1 percent of the agricultural net output every year.

In Zimbabwe, the livestock sector is an important source of nutritious food and provides critical inputs for crop production, raw materials for agro-processing industry, income and capital wealth creation for farmers.

Over the years, the country has experienced a transition phase in terms of livestock ownership, with smallholder farmers owning more than 90 percent of the total livestock.

Matabeleland South veterinary services director Dr Enat Mdlongwa said the capacitation of extension workers is important to aid them in their work across the province.

“We cover long distances and have one extension worker per ward. For this person to be able to cover that area, they need a motorbike so that they can move around and attend to all those people in the area. Without a motorbike, it becomes very difficult for them to discharge their extension duties diligently,” said Dr Mdlongwa.

He said Government had availed motorbikes to extension workers in the province to help them discharge their duties.

“We currently have motorbikes that we were given by the President. Each extension officer with a Class 3 driver’s licence should be given a motorbike. Currently, we only have 58 out of about 133 extension officers who currently have Class 3 licences and they all have motorbikes. If you get a licence today, by the end of the week, you’ll be given a motorbike,” said Dr Mdlongwa.

Dr Enat Mdlongwa

However, he said some extension workers took a long time to acquire licences.

“It’s just that our people are very slow in getting licences. We also have a tablet that extension workers were given by the President so that whatever information is being captured, it can be entered electronically, sent to our offices or whoever has to receive the information. 

“That gives us a lot of mileage in terms of timely reporting of diseases, formatting them so that they get to our epidemiologist, analyse them and a decision is made. These tablets were given to almost every extension worker in Matabeleland South,” said Dr Mdlongwa. – @Yolisswa.