Pres. Cyril Ramaphosa in parliament on Thursday. (Photo: Parliament/X)
The government is actually going to start the vaccination against foot-and-mouth disease in common areas, said Pres. Cyril Ramaphosa said during the official opening of the house of traditional and Khoi San leaders in Parliament on Thursday.
“Rural cattle herds move around very easily, without being restricted by fences or on farms, and therefore the spread of foot-and-mouth disease becomes a major challenge. This is what we must pay attention to now.
“We will use the vaccination process to ensure that communal and small-scale farmers have access to the vaccine. In fact, where FMD has broken out in communal areas is where we will focus first.
“In other words, we want to focus on common areas and then we will focus on dairy farms, feedlots and then the rest of the national herd,” Ramaphosa said in parliament.
The Department of Agriculture currently intends to proactively vaccinate the national herd of more than 14 million cattle, so that South Africa can achieve foot-and-mouth disease-free status.
Ramaphosa pointed out on Thursday that South Africa is not the first country to vaccinate so many cattle.
“Brazil, which has about 124 million cattle, had to vaccinate their entire herd and it took them years – it was almost a period of ten years. Argentina had to do exactly the same. And once they did that, they got rid of foot-and-mouth disease and can now trade their beef or livestock in the world.”
Pres. Cyril Ramaphosa in parliament on Thursday. (Photo: Parliament/X)
10,000 new agricultural extension officers
Ramaphosa said in parliament on Thursday that agriculture is the lifeblood of rural communities.
“In the state of the nation address, I outlined the steps we are taking to support farmers and improve agricultural productivity across the country.
“We will continue to provide innovative funding to black producers, with the support of the Landbank and commercial banks,” the president undertook.
“As we look at new markets for our agricultural exports, we want to ensure that a citrus farmer from the Xitlakati settlement at Giyani and a poultry producer from Malangeni at Umdoni in KwaZulu-Natal have the same opportunities to expand their businesses as an established commercial farmer.
“We are therefore sending 10,000 new agricultural extension officers into the field across the country this year to offer technical support to both small and commercial farmers.”
According to Ramaphosa, the government will also consolidate the training funded by the AgriSETA to attract more young people to the agricultural sector.