AGRICULTURE NEWS - About 10 500 head of cattle have died due to a lack of pasture and drinking water in three southern provinces of Zimbabwe, as the worst drought in recent years continues.

Matabeleland South, widely regarded as Zimbabwe’s driest province, has been the worst affected, with about 4 500 cattle having died by 15 October.

More than 4 000 cattle have died in the Masvingo Province, while 2 040 have died in the Midlands, according to government officials.

“The situation is desperate,” Hatitye Muchemwa, an official in the Department of Livestock and Veterinary Services in Matabeleland South, told Farmer’s Weekly.

“The prolonged dry spell has decimated pastures and water sources right across the province. It is bad because the worst affected are the communal farmers who are so poorly resourced that they have no money to buy supplementary feed. That is where the losses are biggest.

Read the full article here on the Caxton publication, Farmer's Weekly