By Simon Ngena
STOCK THEFT is a major threat to livestock production — and food security — in Africa and has been on the rise in recent years. Zimbabwe, where for the most part, livestock are a source of draught power, meat, milk, manure, eggs and school fees, is no exception. According to a research study in Gwanda by Lovemore Musemwa et al on behalf the Chinhoyi University of Technology (CUT) and Bindura University of Science Education (BUSE), the most vulnerable livestock species to stock theft in the study area were goats followed by cattle, donkeys, sheep, and chicken respectively.
The high numbers of stolen goats were attributed to the relative ease with which goats can be slaughtered, skinned, transported, and sold as meat without being detected when compared with cattle. The study further revealed that stock theft mostly occurred on working days and rarely on weekends, reaching its peak levels in the months of January and November. Small-scale farmers in rural areas are more vulnerable to stock theft due to their over-reliance on community grazing systems and lack of night security.
Social problems, rapid population growth, and growing urbanisation have also created a burgeoning demand for meat. The increase in demand has pushed the price of meat, particularly beef, beyond the reach of the average household, making stock theft a lucrative, albeit illegal, business venture. Reports from the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) indicate that there are rising cases of stock theft countrywide (see table below).
The study found that goats were the most vulnerable livestock species, followed by cattle, donkeys, sheep, and chicken. This, the study pointed out, is due to the ease with which goats can be slaughtered, skinned, transported, and sold as meat without being detected when compared with other livestock. Most of stolen livestock were sold to rural and peri-urban butcheries, middlemen, and neighbouring villages, with grazing areas and kraals identified as the main locations for stock theft.
However, the study found that stock theft did not significantly affect household nutrition, as rural families rarely slaughter animals for consumption. But this is not to say loss of livestock does not impact national food security given that, in the absence of fertiliser, small-scale farmers rely on livestock mature to boost their crop yields. It is also important to bear in mind that without draught power, crop hectarages are often limited, thereby compromising food security.
The study’s findings have important implications for livestock farming and livelihoods in the country, highlighting the need for interventions to address the issue of stock theft and protect vulnerable livestock species such as goats. For its part, the ZRP in November 2004 set up in Anti-Stock Theft Unit, on realising the need to rebuild the national herd in line with Government’s policy of boosting food security and diversifying the economy. The unit is headed by a Senior Assistant Commissioner who is the National Co-coordinator Anti-stock theft based at Police General Headquarters.
It has provincial and district teams that are headed by provincial anti-stock theft coordinators and district anti-stock theft coordinators respectively who coordinate anti-stock theft activities in their respective areas. There are also station anti-stock theft teams at every station throughout the country who are responsible for investigating stock theft dockets at their respective stations. Given the continued rise in stock theft, obviously more needs to be done.
What then is the way forward?