Patience Makwele
Livestock farmers in the Zambezi region have questioned what they describe as an unequal government response to foot-and-mouth disease (FMD), saying their longstanding concerns about the disease and difficulties selling cattle have yet to be adequately addressed.
Several farmers who spoke to Windhoek Observer raised concerns of “unfair treatment from the government.”
Among the farmers were Caphus Nyambe of Ngoma and Mabengano Sifwa who demanded explanations from authorities to explain why the outbreak in the //Kharas region prompted nationwide restrictions, while farmers in Zambezi say they have struggled for years with FMD and limited access to markets.
Their concerns follow the confirmation of FMD at Kalala Island in the Kabbe constituency on 7 October, with 12 cattle samples reportedly testing positive.
“We are not complaining and raising issues of tribalism here, but the way we are being treated as a region shows that we are always the last,” Sifwa said.
“This issue has been dragged back and forth in parliament, Job Amupanda and others have been speaking about it just like those who came and left but the matter was not treated like the way the government treated the outbreak in the other region. We witnessed people scrambling and running for meat in shops but what about here, they have been recording cases, this region never reached a lockdown level. Can someone explain what this means?” he asked.
Sifwa said the long restrictions associated with the veterinary cordon fence had limited farmers’ ability to sell meat and access profitable markets, forcing some cattle owners to sell their animals at low prices.
He said this made it difficult for farmers to cover household expenses and pay school fees.
“These are some people who come to us when they need votes and when they need to sit in chairs and when they need to be recognised, to be seen, they come to us. But what about our issues?” he said, criticising politicians for allegedly making promises during campaigns without addressing farmers’ concerns afterwards.
He called on President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah and the agriculture ministry to engage farmers and explain the way forward.
“We also want to see the same solution that are being done in //Kharas region and other parts … to come on board and tell us what is the way forward,” Sifwa said.
Nyambe said FMD was not a new challenge for Zambezi farmers and called for sustained support rather than interventions that appear to intensify only when an outbreak attracts national attention.
“We understand that FMD is serious, and we are not saying the government should not act when there is an outbreak in //Kharas. Those farmers also have livelihoods to protect,” he said.
“But we want to understand why it takes such a serious situation somewhere else for the whole country to pay attention, when we have been dealing with this problem for so long.”
Nyambe said farmers needed preventative measures, adequate veterinary services and a clear plan to protect their cattle and income.
“When animals cannot be sold, we still have families to feed, children to send to school and other expenses to pay. Cattle are not just animals to us, they are our livelihood,” he said.
The ministry of agriculture, fisheries, water and land reform has said the outbreaks in Zambezi and //Kharas are unrelated and that the regions face different disease-control circumstances.
The //Kharas outbreak was confirmed on 23 September on a commercial farm in the Karasburg veterinary district, within Namibia’s recognised FMD-free zone.
Authorities introduced nationwide movement and trade restrictions before partially easing some measures following surveillance and tracing.
Zambezi, meanwhile, has historically experienced FMD, partly because of the presence of buffaloes, which can carry the virus.
Following the latest outbreak, authorities imposed restrictions on livestock movements and marketing in the region and began emergency vaccination.
The ministry has reported progress with vaccination, although farmers told the Windhoek Observer they were still awaiting updates on coverage and whether all cattle in the region would be vaccinated.
Speaking on Friday, agriculture minister Inge Zaamwani said the government was implementing control measures under the national contingency plan and the Animal Health Act of 2011, including surveillance, movement restrictions and vaccination directed by veterinary authorities.
She warned livestock owners against vaccinating their own animals, saying FMD vaccination must follow directives issued by the Directorate of Veterinary Services.
Zaamwani also acknowledged the wider economic implications of the outbreak, saying movement restrictions affect livestock supply chains and could put upward pressure on domestic meat prices.
“The scale and economic implication of this outbreak requires a collective national effort,” she said, urging farmers, businesses and other stakeholders to cooperate with the government’s response.
While the ministry has outlined measures to contain the outbreak, farmers’ concerns extend beyond emergency interventions to longstanding questions about market access, cattle prices and preventative support.
Sifwa said farmers wanted the president and the responsible ministry to engage them directly and explain what would happen next.
“We are afraid that we might lose our animals. And at the end of the day, we lose our animal, nothing good comes out of it,” he said.
