Livestock farmers during the training

One of the main expected results of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) emergency programme intervention in Mozambique includes reducing the risk of cattle mortality in areas that have been affected by the El Nino phenomenon.

Through this about 20,000 households will benefit in Maputo and Gaza provinces where FAO have been distributed balers for hay production to feed cattle, especially in critical times.

To achieve this goal, FAO has trained 30 people, including breeders and technicians, who will share the knowledge acquired in training to their communities in the districts of Guijá, Mapai, Mabalane, Magude and Chibuto in both provinces.

Alberto Tsetsane Mabunda, one of the livestock farmers from Guijá district, who benefited from FAO training, said that he had a hard time during the dry season and he believes that "with this support many animals will be saved."

"I lost more than 20 livestock that died because of food shortage. It was a critical period because I sold a head of cattle for 2000 meticais while prices previously ranged from 20,000 to 30,000 meticais", said Mabunda adding that to feed his animals in drought times, he had to look for alternative vegetation. With the new hay processing machine, it will be easier to reserve pasture for the critical moments that may arise."
Who also benefited from the training provided by FAO is the technique of the District Services for Economic Activities (SDAE) from Mapai district, Carla Manhique, who considers the training a good exchange of experiences.

"The most important thing is to highlight the efforts made with the support of the producers, as they are our incentive base to demonstrate the importance of this type of resilient practices in the communities. We will continue with our work as technicians to sensitize more breeders to adhere to the use of balers, "she said.

Representing the district government of Magude, where the training took place, the Director of District Services for Economic Activities, Joaquim Monteiro, stated that "this is a new practice that will be well received with the support of the technicians so that the communities covered can learn how to produce hay easily and make better use of its production to feed the animals in times of drought."

This FAO support is expected to favour 40,000 cattle in the two southern provinces.
FAO's actions in response to drought in the country also included support for poultry farming, where FAO distributed building material from 15 birdcages with a capacity of 1,500 chickens each in the same provinces.