Farmers in the drought stricken Warmbad area have been advised to sell off some of their livestock.
Dennis Coetzee, Karasburg East constituency Councillor said farmers should not risk losing all their livestock to the drought but should instead sell some.
He said selling livestock give the farmers much needed income and reduce their livestock to a number that they can afford to feed during the drought period.
In May this year, Cootze told New Era that almost 19 000 animals were on the brink of starvation at Warmbad and surrounding areas.
Cootzee maintains that although the situation has improved slightly, there is a need for farmers to sell to avoid losses.
He said the farmers were assisted by the Karas regional council, which bought and distributed lucerne worth N$45 000 to all affected farmers, but says this alone was not enough.
The situation is anticipated to get worse if rains do not come in good volumes.
“I advise the farmers to sell some of their livestock’.
“With this rain pattern it is difficult to say if we will receive rain or not, so instead of losing their animals it is better to sell and buy again when times are better,” Cootzee said.
He said the provision of animal feed to the farmers by government is not sustainable, and farmers will be back to square one when the lucerne provided is up.
Statistics show that about 18 795 animals face death due to lack of grazing areas, with 8679 goats, 7297 sheep, 1996 cattle, 456 horses and 367 donkeys from 29 communal and 28 resettled farmers within the Warmbad area.
