The ongoing El Niño-induced drought is having a devastating impact on livestock farmers in rural farming communities, where herds of cattle are perishing due to the severe water shortages and parched grazing lands. 

As a result, many farmers have been left struggling to sustain their livelihoods as their herds dwindle in numbers, threatening both their food security and income.

However, farmers working with PELUM Zimbabwe member, Njeremoto Biodiversity Institute (NBI) in Shurugwi district have a different story to tell. 

Ellah Chimwanda (65) is one of the farmers and says despite the widespread death of cattle in surrounding villages, farmers in her village have not lost any of their livestock. She credits this to Holistic Land Livestock Management (HLLM) that her village has been practicing with support from NBI.

“Water points for livestock have been fast drying out because we received less rainfall. This has led to the deaths of many cattle in the surrounding wards, many cattle died because of lack of food. However, my cattle together with close to 250 cattle in my village have been able to survive. I credit this resilience to planned grazing and holistic management,” she says. 

Other farmers from Hwange who also have been practising HLLM also say farmers like them in Hwange were not as affected by the drought despite Hwange being a notoriously hot and drought prone area. 

Pathisani Mpofu (46) a farmer working with PELUM Zimbabwe member, Igugu Trust says she has understood and embraced the planned grazing initiative that has been successfully implemented in her community by Igugu Trust and it has resulted in her livestock surviving the harsh drought conditions. 

“We faced a challenge of lack of rain so our livestock were food insecure. However, the effects of the El Niño induced drought were not felt as much because we were systematically grazing our cattle though planned grazing such that our animals had a bit of food from the pastures to survive the dry season,” says Phathisani.  

Nhlalo Dube (43), another farmer from Hwange who is also working with Pathisani says rotational and planned grazing has been preventing loss of pastures during the drought. 

“By rotating the grazing areas, we allow the grass to regenerate and prevent soil erosion, which is crucial during these dry times,” says Nhlalo.

Osmond Mugweni (PhD) (70) says HLLM has been able to spare farmers  because it equips farmers with the ability to plan and manage livestock and natural resources like grazing pastures which helps in managing feed for cattle. He also says this has been beneficial and can help other farmers if they adopt it.

“Holistic Land and Livestock Management has been beneficial to farmers in our community because they have been able to feed their livestock in times of need. By managing our pastures, we are also recharging underground water which is crucial for sustaining our pastures during drought seasons like this one. I hope other communities will adopt HLLM for sustainable livestock management,” he says.

According to Igugu Trust, paddocking and giving enough time to regenerate undergrowth is key to limiting livestock mortality in case of a drought.

“Demarcating grazing areas into paddocks and managing time spent by animals on them in growing/rainy season helps in averting drought effects because grazed paddocks are given time to recover.  In the growing season, giving plants time for recovery after being grazed is crucial because it helps plants to grow again hence becoming reserves of forage for the non-growing or dry season as well as drought in case rains delay,” reads their statement.