The Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Land Reform, in collaboration with the European Union, will construct an artificial insemination facility at Okapya Livestock Development Centre in the Oshikoto Region.
Oshikoto falls north of the Veterinary Cordon Fence. The centre will be established to provide farmers with insemination services at subsidised prices to improve the quality of their herds.
While its operations and related activities will be managed by the Directorate of Agriculture Research Development and the Directorate of Veterinary Services under the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Land Reform (MAWLR).
“There is a challenge of inbreeding in most of the cattle herds in Northern Communal Areas (NCAs) affecting livestock production and reproduction. To overcome this challenge, extension and mentorship programmes will be carried out to promote bull exchange programmes between villages, constituencies, and regions,” the Ministry of Agriculture spokesperson Jona Musheko said.
The Northern Communal Areas have an estimated livestock population of 1.5 million. Farmers have in the past suffered in losing their livestock due to the Foot-and-Mouth Disease restrictions imposed in the North and Northeastern parts of the country.
The new venture is part of the bull improvement initiatives, where farmers will be encouraged to castrate inferior bulls at an early stage.
“Artificial insemination is important as it will improve the breeding quality of livestock in the NCA. Budgetary provisions will be made through the MAWLR Operational and Development Budgets to maintain existing and construct new infrastructure. Therefore, is a need to equip the Okapya LDC with artificial insemination facilities, which will be used to assist farmers with breeding programmes, provide training, and conserve animals with pure superior qualities,” said Musheko.
The indigenous eco-type, especially from the Kunene Region (cows and bulls) will be procured from the local farmers to promote the breeding and conservation of the eco-type which will be kept at Okapya Livestock Development Centre for further development.
In addition, he said the North Central, Zambezi, Kavango East and West Regions, are already practicing eco-type, through conservation and breeding efforts which are ongoing at respective Livestock Development Centre.
Recently the Meat Board of Namibia announced that it has set a minimum N$10,000 for bidders who wish to buy from the 20 crossbreed bulls that are at Kopano Quarantine Camp in the Zambezi Region.
“Consequently, Okapya will be a centre to ensure that high-quality Sanga/Nguni bulls are kept from various areas of the NCAs in order to ensure that the gene-pool is as diverse as possible. Collected semen will freeze and be stored for future use, and farmers in the NCAs will be encouraged to make use of semen from these bulls to improve their herd quality,” stated Musheko.
Still, in the pursuit of assisting farmers, MAWLR has released another tender to upgrade the slaughtering house at Opuwo to a full-fledged abattoir.
