eBusiness Weekly
The cow has always been central to an African’s social and economic life, both in life and death.
In life, cattle ownership is viewed as a sign of wealth, acknowledged for its provision of draught power for tillage and manure from its dung and to provide milk for consumption.
In death, nothing from a dead cow is put to waste. After getting all the meat, men enjoy cow trotters, commonly known as mazondo, amancina, while the skin is dried and used as a mat or as fabric, especially in the olden days and the horns are used for various purposes such as cups for old man, in some societies. Cows are also used as bridewealths in marriages.
The “cattle complex”, a term introduced by the anthropologist Melville Herskovits (1926) to describe the system of values that governed native cattle ownership in a large part of East Africa, reveals how cattle is viewed in the continent.
According to the anthropologist; “A cattleless man could enjoy neither social position nor respect.”
This was so in the district in the Zambezi Valley such as Siakobvu, in Mashonaland West province.
For decades, man was separated from his cattle by the naughty tsetse fly.
“This area was heavily infested by tsetse making pastoral farming impossible,” said Chief Nebiri, born Wilson Nebiri.
If control measures are not undertaken, tsetse flies can invade about 180 000 square kilometres of Zimbabwe, and such a situation can put at risk about a third of the national herd.
According to the agroecological survey of Zimbabwe by Vincent and Thomas (1962) about 240 000 square kilometres is not suitable for growing crops due to erratic rainfall and poor retentive properties of the soils.
The recommended land use for such areas is extensive livestock production, sometimes with production of drought-tolerant small grains. The presence of tsetse, therefore, becomes a major constraint to optimal exploitation of these areas.
Around 1955 a Commission of Enquiry was appointed with a brief to identify a new organisation which would develop techniques of tsetse control different from the destruction of game which had been adopted previously. The Commission decided as an interim measure, setting up of game free, cattle free defence corridors.
And this is how communities such as Siakobvu were separated from their cattle.
And without his cattle, the African man is miserable.
“During that time, I was forced to visit my uncles hundreds of kilometres away in Gokwe if I wanted beef and milk as we were not permitted to own cattle.
“This meant that we did not have access to draught power, we could not trade in cattle to raise school fees for our children. Our economic lives as rural communities were almost dead due to the failure to own cattle.”
Tsetse is a two-winged blood sucking fly and vector of trypanosomiasis, a disease that affects both humans and animals.
Trypanosomiasis is caused by protozoan micro-organisms called trypanosomes and mainly transmitted by tsetse.
In animals the disease is called Animal African trypanosomiasis (AAT) commonly known as nagana while in humans the disease is called Human African Trypanosomiasis (HAT) or sleeping sickness.
HAT takes two forms, depending on the parasite involved: Trypanosoma brucei gambiense (g-HAT) is the chronic form of the disease found in West and Central Africa and Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense (r-HAT) is the acute form of the disease which occurs in Eastern and Southern Africa.
And this naughty fly has devastating effects in livestock production not only to pastoral farmers in Siakobvu, but in Africa.
“Direct aggregate losses due to animal trypanosomiasis in the estimated 47 million cattle living in the tsetse regions may exceed US$1,3 billion annually, while the overall annual direct lost potential in livestock and crop production was estimated at US$4,5 billion (Budd, 1999; Kristjanson et al.,1999; DFID,” said Dr William Shereni, Director for the Division of Tsetse Control during a media tour recently.
“Trypanosomiasis can reduce calving rates for susceptible breeds by 10-20 percent, increase calf mortality rates by 10-20 percent, reduce milk yields by 10-40 percent, reduce cattle offtake by 5-30 percent, reduce oxen efficiency (draught performance) by 33 percent and affect herd investment decisions with respect to herd structures and cattle purchases,” said Dr Shereni.
But the situation has since changed in Zimbabwe following a number of interventions with only about 4 500 square kilometres of farming areas still infested down from 55 000 square kilometres years ago.
Tsetse control in Zimbabwe was started in the 1920s using bush clearing and game elimination.
Zimbabwe, together with other SADC countries, participated in the European Union-funded Regional Tsetse and Trypanosomiasis Control Programme (RTTCP) from 1986-2000 to eradicate tsetse from 320 000 km2 of the common fly belt of Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
From that time till the 1980s ground spraying was the mainstay of tsetse control. Since 1980, the Area-wide, Integrated Pest Management (AW-IPM) concept involving ground spraying, aerial spraying, odour-baited technology (insecticide-treated targets) and cattle dipping has been adopted.
Targets have been used at deployment densities of 4 per square kilometre in large scale campaigns for the control of tsetse.
The environmental impact of this technique is low and it minimises re-invasion since tsetse can only invade a few kilometres into the target area.
Research experiments conducted at Rekomichi Research Station in Mana Pools in the Zambezi Valley demonstrated that cattle dipped regularly in a suspension concentrate of deltamethrin act as highly effective and lethal baits for tsetse flies, achieving high level of trypanosomiasis control.
More research is still being conducted with the objective of eliminating from Zimbabwe and improving defence against tsetse re-invasion.
But for now, pastoral farmers have been reunited with their cattle.
Chief Chundu, born Abel Mbasera, from Nyamakati area in Mashonaland province paid tribute to the Government for the initiatives to eradicate tsetse.
“We live in an area surrounded by wild animals which are favoured by the blood-sucking tsetse. But because of the initiatives being undertaken by the Tsetse Control Division our lives have returned to normal again.
“We now have cattle which we use for draught power, milking and even trade. This has improved rural livelihoods,” said Chief Chundu. — Maricho Media.
