BORAVAST farmers warn about structural

The battle against Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) in the Kgalagadi South region is reaching a breaking point, driven not only by the virus itself but by a systemic disconnection that has left the Bokspits, Rappelspan, Vaalhoek and Struizendam (BORAVAST) community feeling like outsiders in their own country. Local farmers within the cluster are warning that a structural malfunction within the Department of Veterinary Services is turning one of Botswana’s most productive green zones into a landscape of desperation. Speaking during a meet-and-greet session held by the Tsabong District Emergency Operation Team, Mr Darryl Van Der Westhuizen, a prominent voice among the Kgalagadi farming community, called for immediate overhaul of the agricultural ecosystem.

He described a grim reality where the state’s primary contribution to the FMD fight has been the culling of livestock rather than the support of livelihoods. A chilling lack of psychological support for farmers forced to watch their entire livelihoods destroyed by mandatory culling was also highlighted. According to Mr Van Der Westhuizen, government has failed to account for the trauma of such losses, which he warned could lead to a mental health crisis, including the risk of suicide among those left with nothing.

The geographical isolation of the BORAVAST area had further turned routine veterinary services into a financial nightmare, he noted. Mr Van Der Westhuizen pointed out the absurdity of the current centralised system, where a farmer requiring a P13 Keeper ID card or P20 worth of small stock ear tags was forced to travel to Tsabong, a trek of over 260km one way that often involved costly overnight stays. The logistical hurdles did not end with the journey, he said once an animal was finally tagged, a farmer must wait an additional three weeks for the system to update before a sale can be legalised.

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“These impossible hurdles are creating desperate farmers who may eventually turn to livestock smuggling into South Africa just to survive, ironically creating the very FMD risk the government is trying to prevent,” Mr Van Der Westhuizen warned. He further cautioned that desperate situations created desperate people, noting that the sentiment in BORAVAST was that the area had been neglected for far too long. If government truly intended to eradicate FMD, locals said they must first address the infrastructure that kept the BORAVAST economy in a state of permanent lockdown.

Furthermore, he said the green zone status of the region appeared to be a title held only on paper. While the Botswana Meat Commission (BMC) quoted premium prices of P53/kg for such zones, Mr Van Der Westhuizen revealed that Boravast farmers were being exploited by market sharks, feedlots and butcheries from the north who capitalised on the area’s isolation.

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