Ngami farmers hope rains will save livestock from drought

Ngamiland farmers say they are hoping for the best this year following heavy rains that poured over the festive season. The region has been ravaged by drought that is estimated to have killed over 25,000 cattle. A farmer in the district, Elvis Bodiro of Bothatogo village, said for the past two years, he was reluctant to go to his cattle post, because he was disturbed by the poor conditions in which the cattle were in. “I did not expect it will rain after a long drought and my hope is that it will continue raining andhopefully our stock numbers will be able to recover. Every farmer in the district I think is happy now after the rains,” he said.Another farmer, Tsogo Mosihe, said he was happy to see it raining almost every day and see changes in his livestock and his cattle has started recovering from the drought.

“When I first arrived at the cattle post, our cattle were moving skeletons but just days later they were recovering and at the end of the festive period they had fully recovered and I will soon go back to drink fresh milk,” he said with a broad smile. Across the district in Haina Veldt, Gaehele Modiegi of Metsi, a Kgomo cattle post, is also excited about the amount of rainfall in the area. Like the other farmers he says that he is hopeful that this coming year no livestock will die from drought.