Foot and Mouth Disease drains the nation
Trans boundary animal diseases (TBD) such as Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) are a major obstacle to the region’s development agenda as they kill international trade in livestock thereby reversing progress made to alleviate poverty.
Speaking at the official opening of the 25th Conference of the World Organisation for Animal Health Regional Commission for Africa Tuesday in Gaborone, President Mokgweetsi Masisi said the people become marginalised as they cannot be part of the high value global trade of beef.
“For Botswana FMD presents a special problem as the livelihoods of our people especially in rural areas depend on livestock and the periodic outbreak of the disease in certain zones is highly-disruptive to their lives,” Masisi noted.
He said the negative impact that these types of diseases have on the livelihoods of the people have made the government to react speedily to any outbreaks that happen.
The control of FMD in Botswana goes back to the 1930s when “our forefathers” erected crude barriers made of tree trunks to intercept FMD outbreaks to protect parts of the country that were not affected.
This zonation system comes at a significant cost as cordon fences and quarantine camps have to be set up to fight the disease.
Masisi said that in 2006 Botswana and other SADC nations established the Kavango Zambezi Trans frontier Conservation Area (KAZA - TFCA) which spans the borders of five countries in SADC.
The goal of the KAZA-TFCA is to sustainably manage the Okavango Zambezi ecosystem and cultural resources through harmonisation of policies and strategies.
Masisi urged the conference attendees to come up with solutions to the immerging problems that nations face in the agricultural sector.