eBusiness Weekly
Noah Pito
Kariba businessman Sikelela Gumpo has launched an artificial insemination cattle breeding project aimed at improving the size and quality of communal cattle in Hurungwe and Kariba Districts.
Although the project is initially set to be launched as a voluntary project, called Hurungwe/Kariba Artificial Insemination Cattle and Goats Breeders Association, Gumpo says the project will replicate to other parts of the country with time.
“The Department of Livestock at the Chinhoyi University of Technology and Veterinary Services in Hurungwe, will be offering all expertise and advisory services required in this project. The project will target about 130 000 cattle in Hurungwe/Kariba districts before it replicates to other parts of the country.
“We feel this will be the cheapest and most economic way to tackle the problem of the declining national herd. Currently, we are holding consultation meetings with the leadership in the areas concerned before we launch the project.
The chiefs, MPs, councillors and all stakeholders must be aware of this project before it is implemented in their areas.
Chinhoyi University of Technology has offered us nine bulls of different breeds that we will use in the artificial insemination programme.
“Eventually we want to eliminate the small bulls in the communal areas and establish viable beasts that can fetch at least $1 000 on the market. Through such a programme, we also aim at generating quality product for the export market within the next five to 10 years,” he said.
Objectives and benefits of the programme
According to Gumpo, the aims and objectives of the project are to empower mainly the communal and A1 farmers although commercial farmers will not be left out. The project, he said, will be community-based and managed by the association for the benefit of the farmers while it also would complement the government effort to revive the national herd.
The project is also meant to facilitate better animal husbandry practices by farmers and from a herd revival initiative, reduces the inter calving period to around a year while also providing assistance in diseases treatment and prevention – particularly in calves and the breeding cows. It also aims at stopping in-breeding and accelerating cattle capacity to express traits like milk yield and draught power in a better way.
Gumpo cited unmonitored disease outbreaks, high interest rates and reluctance of the financial institutions to fund small-scale farmers, high costs of importing new heifers and distributing them to communal areas as having been among major challenges militating against the growth of the national herd.
