Discusses issues of livestock production and management
Taruvinga Magwiroto Well, I will describe him as one of our heroes who has been in the struggle from a young age…I don’t think he knew any other thing except the struggle Jacob Zuma on Robert Mugabe on SABC. As a writer, I consider myself to be a special witness. This, I believe, gives me the right to tell stories, particularly the African story. So … Continue reading Mugabe, in Jacob Zuma’s words.
Taruvinga Magwiroto Whether it was fate unfolding, or just sheer bad luck, it’s up to you to decide. So at the end of 2005, after the Binga bunga bunga, the Msambakaruma incidences and Magunje escapades, I was ready to call time to my days in the field. I was joining the Agricultural Education Department as a lecturer, excited to become a proper “Sir!” I had … Continue reading A False Start: The Agric Education Years
Taruvinga L. Magwiroto According to estimates by the World Food Programme, 5.5 million Zimbabweans will need food aid this year. This is a result of drought and related weather calamities. But in large measure, this is an indictment of our agriculture system. From a food and nutrition security, we have stagnated, nay, degenerated since the land reform programme. Those with pieces of land but not … Continue reading The future of agriculture in Zimbabwe: science of common sense
Taruvinga Magwiroto In Southern Africa, the dry season is upon us. Traditionally, this means the time of “mashanga” where animals are free to graze in the harvested fields. As livestock farmers we need to know what is happening to the veld, and what this means to our animals. We then need to know what steps we can take to soften the worst effects of the … Continue reading Coping with the Dry Season
Taruvinga Magwiroto Acacia legume plant. Seen here growing at Henderson Researc Station, Mazowe. Planted pastures can be a great way of ensuring adequate nutritious supplies of feed to animals. Lucerne, seen here growing at the University of Zimbabwe Animal House garden, Mt Pleasant. Growing legume plants can be a cheaper way of supplying proteins to animals. It is common cause that the current hyper-inflationary situation … Continue reading Small holder livestock entrepreneurs: survival tactics in tough business environment
Taruvinga Magwiroto We know that stock feed constitutes 65-70% of your running costs in livestock projects. We also know that most velds and pastures in Zimbabwe and Africa are degraded. Planting of improved varieties of pasture grasses and legumes has not been adopted much by farmers, due to communal nature of grazing resources; costs of paddocking; and shortage of water. This brings us to consider … Continue reading On-farm feed rations based on locally available ingredients (for goats and cattle)
Taruvinga Magwiroto This article I recommend that every broiler farmer to read, print out and move around with it! The trick in broiler production is to prevent illness. Once you start having large losses/deaths, you would have failed in preventing diseases. Here are the actions you take to minimise losses and why you do it. The first thing to note about broilers is that, even … Continue reading Broiler deaths: common causes and solutions
Feeding lucerne to rabbits. Continue reading Feeding greens to rabbits: lucerne
Taruvinga Magwiroto This article talks about assisting difficult births in cattle, though the same general principles apply to all farm animals. Difficult births- also known as dystocia– happen in animals from time to time. Read about possible causes of dystocia here: https://livestockmatters.blog/2019/04/04/dystocia-everything-you-need-to-know-about-difficult-birth-part-1/ When dystocia happens, it is important that the farmer or extension worker knows how to help the animal and try to save both … Continue reading Assisting difficult birth
Taruvinga Magwiroto Consider this scenario: your animal just wakes up looking really sick. It is off-feed, the body feels hot to the touch and it does not want to move. Maybe it shows signs of diarrhoea or hard dung (constipation). How do you help it to aid recovery? First things first: It is always important to spot or discover a sick animal very early. This … Continue reading Nursing/Caring for sick animals
