Bulawayo Hosts Pivotal Livestock Conference: Forging a Resilient and Prosperous Future

By Ilyana Sithole

Hosted under the theme “Transforming Livestock Futures: Resilience and Prosperity in Zimbabwe,” a historic Livestock Conference was organized in Bulawayo on March 20-22, 2025, and policymakers, business leaders, farmers, and entrepreneurs came together to learn about prospects and challenges for the livestock sector of Zimbabwe.

The meeting, organized within the middle of Zimbabwe’s livestock production belt, Matabeleland, was officially opened by Permanent Secretary to Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development, Prof. Dr. O. Jiri. In his welcome note, Dr. Jiri said livestock development needs to be balanced with environmental sustainability, financial development to be ensured, and the value chain of the livestock unlocked.

“Livestock is not only an economic good; it’s a mainstay of our rural way of life, food security, and identity,” said Dr. Jiri, pointing to the government’s vision of achieving a USD 2 billion livestock economy by 2025 through the Livestock Growth Plan (LGP).”.

The LGP, based on animal health, nutrition, and genetics, is to address decades of issues such as tsetse infestation, foot and mouth disease, and tick-borne diseases. The Ministry also introduced the Zimbabwe Livestock Growth Program, with a focus on productivity, profitability, and production growth, as well as export growth.

The conference recognized the devastating effect of the recent drought caused by El Niño, which led to widespread losses of livestock, especially in Matabeleland. This, the ministry has reacted with drought mitigation interventions that include establishing 1,620 Drought Mitigation Ward Centres (DMWC), financing the erection of water troughs, and implementing feed interventions. Dr. Jiri further included that these interventions have saved an estimated 2 million cattle from death due to drought. “Later, our feed supplementation within the risk zone was concentrated primarily in Matabeleland where 9,665MT maize silage and 280MT wheat silage were distributed to the afflicted wards,” he continued.

Keynote address, Deputy Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development, Hon. D. Marapira, emphasized the importance of addressing the industry’s challenges. He also highlighted that the country lost 44,766 cattle in the latest drought. “This conference offers us all a chance.to take a new path of action to build and sustain a strong and sustainable livestock industry,” he went on to add.

Hon. Marapira launched the Livestock Growth Plan, which stated that the worth of livestock enterprises increased from USD 900 million in 2019 to USD 1.2 billion in 2023 through private sector value chain funding models. He, however, indicated that there were certain setbacks such as climate change, animal disease outbreaks, limited access to markets and finance, and conventional farm practices.

In establishing resilience, Hon. Marapira emphasized that the significance of climate-resilient livestock production cannot be overemphasized, then comes disease prevention and control, enhanced access to market and finance, technology, and innovation. He further noted the empowerment of the smallholder farmer, the industry pillar.

The conference also had speakers present on climate-smart livestock systems, manure and water management, and sustainable grazing systems. New innovative financing instruments such as public-private partnerships, microfinance contracts, credit facilities for targeting, and insurance covers were presented by speakers.

Given that the world meat market is estimated to grow to USD 1.3 trillion by 2027, Zimbabwe is expected to embark on greater value addition and exportation. The conference was brought to a close by the call to action by all the stakeholders to unite in the creation of a globally competitive, sustainable, and inclusive livestock industry that will guarantee food security and deliver Vision 2030.