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| Kazungula Dairy Cooperative have embarked on producing sour milk and yoghurt to get more value from their livestock |
The devastating effects of CBPP outbreak of 2005 are still visible in the lives of smallholder farmers in Kazungula district. The CBPP pandemic was one that not only robbed farmers of their cattle but also of a significant amount of their household income which they have had to work hard to recover.
Edwin Sikute remembers the CBPP outbreak as one which also threatened the food security of some homes.
“When you lose cattle, you lose all the amenities that come with cattle for example milk was a source of protein for our children and the growth of our children got stunted when our cattle was slaughtered,” he said.
CBBP broke in Kazungula in 2005. Due to its contagious nature and the extent to which the disease had spread, the government intervened through the Smallholder Livestock Investment Program (SLIP,) by using the test and slaughter technique as the effective way to respond to the outbreak of CBPP. This method involves drawing blood samples from a selected number of cattle in a kraal and if a few test positive for CBPP, then the whole herd is slaughtered.
The district which had approximately 63,200 cattle before the pandemic, recorded about 41,700 a year later. By 2008, the cattle population reduced to 27,600.
Livestock farmers of Kazungula Cooperative recall the outbreak as having been the worst calamity to hit their households.
The Cooperative which was formed in 2000, came together to tap into the economic potential of dairy production by establishing a milk collection centre. As an emerging milk collection centre, the group were empowered with milk processing equipment and some dairy cattle by an organization called the Zambia Agribusiness Technical Assistance Centre (ZATEC).
This cattle was shared among some members who were expected to empower other members through an exercise called the pass on. Unfortunately, with the onset of CBPP, these dairy cattle were slaughtered.
Secretary of the Kazungula Cooperative - Fredrick Sikaskola - explained that almost all the members of the cooperative lost cattle through the test and slaughter intervention, including the dairy animals from ZATEC.
“Before the pandemic, our cooperative was collecting between 800 – 1000 litres per day,” Fredrick disclosed.
Today the Cooperative records only 100 litres per day which they collect from a few members who have beef cattle. However for the cooperative, this is an achievement worth celebrating, because for 3 consecutive years after the test and slaughter exercise began in 2006, the Cooperative did not collect any milk at all.
CBBP Epidemiologist under the Enhanced Smallholder Livestock Investment Program (E-SLIP), Dr. Cornelius Mundia, explained that the test and slaughter exercise was the only effective response in an area where CBPP has already broken out.
“If we can get rid of the sick animals that carry the infection then that is [one] way of making sure that we have eliminated the infection in the environment. So that is usually done through testing the herd and if we find that there are some animals that are harboring the mircoplasma which causes the disease then they get slaughtered. Fortunately CBPP is not zoonotic …so it cannot be transferred from animals to human beings. So as a result the meat is safe for human consumption. Of course what we just do is to remove the lungs,” Dr. Mundia explained.
As such, the government was able to partner with abattoir owners to provide a market for the slaughtered animals and in turn offered some compensation to the affected farmers who were paid for the meat of their slaughtered cattle.
While farmers understood the need for this action, they continue to bemoan the effect it has had on their households.
“For me, my cattle did not only help me generate income through milk but they were important to me for cultivation,” Christopher Munalula - a Kazungula cooperative member - said
Cattle rearing is and continues to be traditional practice and cultural pride of the tribes of Southern province. As such for members of Kazungula Dairy Cooperative, milk production allowed its members to generate income without having to sell or slaughter their animals. On the other hand, the cooperative said they were convinced that milk production brings faster money returns than beef production and this was an added advantage for them.
It is for this reason that as they recover from the effects of CBBP, they remain resolved to return to dairy production.
Today, CBPP is under control in Kazungula. Through E-SLIP, community taskforces were established and trained to help monitor and report illegal movement of livestock which has proved to be very helpful to district staff.
Veterinary Assistant for Kazungula, Atheneslous Hamankolo, said that through community sensitizations, farmers were made aware of the fact that CBPP was introduced to Kazungula through illegal stock movements; and farmers welcomed the need for community taskforces.
“We have a taskforce representative in every village here…any animal that moves illegal, they report,” Mr. Hamankolo said.
Kazungula cooperative were given 11 beef cattle as a sentinel cattle which are livestock that are placed to assess whether or not a disease has indeed been eradicated. Today the group has 32 beef cattle but remain resolved to progress in their vision towards dairy production.
“Beef cattle don’t give as much milk as dairy cattle so with the little we get, we’ve decided to add value to our milk...we are making sour milk and yoghurt to help us generate more income,” John Banda said.
After the test and slaughter exercise, Kazungula cooperative decided to diversify in poultry production and established a milling plant which has helped them re-establish their milk collection enterprise.
Farmers in Kazungula remain active to surveilling stock movement and are resolved to ensuring they do not suffer another cattle disease outbreak again.
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