As the New Year dawned, it was reported that Zimbabwe’s once-revered national beef herd was on the brink of extinction, having been decimated under the controversial ‘land reform’ programme of President Robert Mugabe.
The outcome of 110 years careful breeding, the Zimbabwean national herd used to be one of the country’s most prized assets, earning up to £1.3 billion year in exports, mainly to Europe. In 2000, before Mugabe unleashed his farm invasion programme, the herd numbered 1.4 million. Today, it stands at just 125,000, a figure which is itself falling by the day as the cattle are simply being slaughtered for food by the settlers, who have themselves been brought to the brink of starvation by Mugabe’s policies. Of those farmers who have been able to retain some cattle, many are having to sell, as they have been left with no grazing land.
In a statement, Paul D’Hotman, chief executive of the Harare-based Zimbabwe Cattle Producers’ Association said the entire national herd was on the point of extinction and that the whole gene pool was being wiped out.
