A project is in place within the Kruger to Canyon Biosphere Reserve (K2C) called Herding for Health which aims to empower local cattle farmers to restore their grazing lands and improve their livestock health and production through planned grazing initiatives.
The area falls within the Foot and Mouth (FMD) protection zone vaccination area and so farmers must adhere to a strict movement control regime implemented by the State Veterinary Department. This means farmers are restricted with where they can move their cattle and this negatively affects market access and therefore opportunities for pastoralists to make money from their cattle.
The smarter grazing plans as suggested by Conservation South Africa (CSA) are part of conservation agreements between the farmers and the CSA. The farmers will receive benefits in exchange for their change of actions and approach to cattle management.
Incentives for planned grazing include assistance with fodder and market access for the meat.The initiative has picked up national interest and the HOEDSPRUIT HERALD was invited to Welverdiend B village bordering the Kruger National Park to witness the project in motion as it was being filmed by a crew from 50/50.
Read: SAPS honours Tzaneen farming community
As well as the initiatives from CSA, the farmers are encouraged by the State Veterinary Department to make use of weekly dipping and health inspections for their cattle. A total of 729 cattle were dipped and inspected by the State Veterinary Department, overseen by State Veterinarian, Björn Reinighaus. In the Bushbuckridge area, there are approximately 81,000 head of cattle.
The number may change with seasonal fluctuations. A total of 126 dip tanks have been provided to the farmers by the State across this area. In the Eastern Bushbuckridge area, 20 dip tanks are available and all of them overseen by Dr Reinighaus.
Of the 20 dip tanks in the Eastern region, the Herding for Health concept is at four dip tanks in the Bohlabela district and the concept is being piloted to be rolled out in other villages. The current dip tanks that are part of the programme include two in Welverdiend village which is close to the Southern African Wildlife College, one in Dixie village and one in Utah village.
The dip tanks are predominantly used for disease control and for the removal of external parasites such as ticks. The removal of ticks reduces tick-borne diseases such as Corridor disease and reduces physical tick damage on the animals, improving animal quality.
Furthermore the infrastructure created in order to put cattle through the dipping system, such as the snaking crush system and kraal areas, allow for vaccinations to be administered in a controlled and manageable way. Vaccinations given by the State include those against FMD, Anthrax, Black water and Brucellosis.
Additionally, the cattle are physically inspected on a weekly basis and ‘suspect’ animals for FMD are checked for lesions on their tongues.
Each cattle farmer has a stock card and cattle register which must be completed by an authorised veterinary official from the State Veterinary Department on a weekly basis.
The Herding for Health project aims to kick-start planned grazing in the rural communities that border the Kruger National Park and further provide market access, infrastructure and year-round grazing to the local farmers.
The act of ‘herding’ the cattle as such has fallen away over recent years. There are many contributing factors to this. The tradition of young boys walking with the cattle in the veld is no more, as they now attend formal schooling.
Read: Cattle butchered with pangas on farm outside Tzaneen
Many young men have left the rural areas to find employment in the cities and so the management of the cattle often now falls on the shoulders of village elders, who are unable, physically, to move the cattle across large pastures. There are many other reasons why the traditional methods of herding livestock have largely fallen away in the rural communities.
This has now led to much unplanned grazing in the area, with the cattle not driven from one area to another with the change of season and available grass, they are putting enormous pressure on certain areas, which leads to overgrazing, erosion and bush encroachment.
Essentially, constant grazing pressure in one area does not allow grass to go through its full life cycle which stresses the plant and reduces the available storage of nutrients in the roots system which the grass relies on to regenerate each rain season.
Michael Grover, Kruger 2 Canyons Landscape Manager for Conservation South Africa (CSA) informed the HOEDSPRUIT HERALD that it would make most sense to push the cattle to the furthest point away from the villages during the summer, when they are in top condition and as their condition drops in winter, allow them to stay closer to the village and available infrastructure. The smarter grazing plans as suggested by CSA will be part of conservation agreements between the farmers and the CSA.
The farmers are incentivised to change their approach to grazing management in exchange for assistance with fodder and market access for the meat.
Further to the scheme, the Herding for Health project and Conservation South Africa have collaborated with other organisations such as the Department of Environmental Affair funded K2C biosphere EM program, to send out Environmental Monitors or Herd Monitors into the villages to act as the middle-men between the farming community and the Herding for Health project.
They work together with scientists, local government departments and communities with their role being the voice and ears on the ground – community people engaging with the community. They also assist at the weekly dipping programmes.
This dipping, inspection and grazing plan initiative is just the beginning of the story. Market access is the next chapter and will be covered in a following edition of the HOEDSPRUIT HERALD.
