Grassroots Vol 21 No 4 | Page 13

NEWS oo day without having to lead them to and from water . Few cattle owners are actively involved in looking after their animals . For example , some people own more than 150 cattle but are employed and not involved in community agricultural structures .

• At the moment there is an underlying structure for governance and organisation , but it is very challenging to capacitate and there are few active farmers involved .
The lack of continuous herding results in poor disease reporting and monitoring , which in turn means that overall herd health is reduced .
Another significant challenge is building trust . H4H has been working with the Mnisi TA for eight years now . The programme began with the construction of an IT centre and a bush thinning initiative – relatively easy interventions . The processes involved in the H4H programme are natural but complicated and it takes a great deal of input to change people ’ s perceptions around managing livestock .
The local solution
Figure 4 . Clockwise from top left : Cattle in a communal dip ; veterinary intervention ; helping community farmers with market access ; checking fences ; a communal herd moving into a dip .
closer to home , taking advantage of the summer forage growth that has accumulated . The animals drink from more permanent water sources .
• Bomas are placed in degraded areas so that the dung and urine of the 600 snoozing , ruminating cattle can fertilise the land and help it recover .
• Hooves break the surface , urine and dung fertilise the soil , denuded areas are left to rest and recover . This is very similar to the natural movement of wild ungulates such as the wildebeest of the Great Migration .
The first eco-rangers in this area were trained in January 2020 and the community mobilised another 100 volunteers . H4H provided rations for all . The government is supportive of the programme because it makes their job easier . Extension officers don ’ t have to work nearly as hard to have cattle treated for disease or dipped because the animals arrive for treatment in collective herds . Diseases are more easily contained and treated .
Case study - Mnisi tribual authority We spoke to Mike Grover , Conservation South Africa Landscape Director of the Herding 4 Health programme in the Mnisi Tribal Authority ( Mnisi TA ) on the borders of the greater Kruger National Park . In this area of South Africa , the same conditions that prevail in the LNP of Mozambique , do not exist . The H4H model , however , is designed to be flexible and work with local knowledge and local conditions .
Of the national cattle herd – i . e . all the cattle in South Africa , only about five per cent are available to the formal meat and dairy markets . The reasons for this include veterinary cordons and poor animal conditions ( because of poor grazing and untreated diseases ). In the Mnisi region , the major issues are :
• Cattle raiding crop fields
• A lack of collective herding
• Animals left unmonitored for lengthy periods because oo
Fences have reduced preda- oo oo tion . Children who used to herd the cattle go to school . Water provision is such that owners of cattle can simply leave their animals in the communal grazing lands for the
As mentioned , the problems , and therefore the solutions that apply to the LNP do not apply to the Mnisi TA . In the LNP , the major objectives are improved rangeland , intensive herding and the reduction of human-wildlife conflict . In the Mnisi TA , the high-density herding practised in LNP would be almost impossible to achieve because of the fencing already in place .
Herding 4 Health is not a cookie-cutter system and it is not just about herding . It is about optimising agricultural practices for the area in question to the benefit of rural farmers , their animals and communal rangelands . The programme aims to create resilience through adaptability , collective bargaining and saving money .
H4H in the Mnisi area , therefore , aims to bolster and capacitate agricultural structures so that cattle owners are better able to keep records on their animals and maintain good herd health . H4H also hopes to improve access to the market for beef cattle owners . The Mnisi area is not as remote as some H4H target zones and it is intensively researched by tertiary organisations . It is therefore a great testing ground for H4H concepts . One of these is the mobile abattoir – which is an abattoir that travels through rural areas negating the need for cattle owners to transport their animals to slaughter . It conforms to all health and safety standards required
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