Cattle and goats handed to farmers to promote superior genetics in Eastern Cape

Driving the charge to enhance red meat and animal fibre development in the province, the Eastern Cape government handed over cattle and goats to farmers at the Dohne Agricultural Development Institute in Stutterheim recently.

- Jyothi Laldas

Eastern Cape Premier Lubabalo Oscar Mabuyane, with Rural Development and Agrarian Reform MEC Nonkqubela Pieters, handed over cattle and goats with superior genetics to Eastern Cape communal and small-scale farmers. The handover was part of the ongoing implementation of the livestock production improvement scheme to improve the poor genetic make-up of their livestock to enable them to participate in the formal markets with better animals. The scheme promotes sustainable and profitable livestock production within the resource potential farming systems.

According to the minister, since 2017 the department has injected R137 million into the livestock production improvement schemes.

Pieters also announced that the province would soon launch a livestock traceability programme that will assist farmers facing livestock theft, providing them with the ability to trace where the livestock they acquire comes from.