Society ministers to foot-and-mouth farmers
GABORONE, Botswana — The Bible Society in Botswana has been ministering to farmers devastated by the loss of their cattle in an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease. An outbreak in February last year, in an area east of Francistown, close to the border with Zimbabwe, led to the closure of Botswana’s two main abattoirs and the culling of some 12,000 head of cattle. At an earlier stage, farmers and agriculture officials had slaughtered twelve hundred cattle in the region and vaccinated others in an effort to contain the disease. Cattle-rearing is the main industry in rural Botswana and, after diamond-mining and tourism, the third most important industry in the country as a whole. An estimated 90 per cent of households have cattle as their main source of income. Farmers and officialsThe Bible Society in Botswana visited the affected area at the time of the cull, in March last year, distributing Bibles and three Scripture Portions not only to the suffering farmers but also to officials involved in the mass slaughter who included vets, policemen and army officers. M A Kareng, Executive Secretary of the Society, was among those who took part in the distribution. He described the plight of one woman he met at a cattle kraal. “It is heavy for me and my family to lose all our cattle,” she told him. “My husband just retired from his work at the end of last year [2001] and we used all his benefits to buy most of our cattle, hoping that it would be our source of income. Now here they are, waiting to be killed.” She said she was happy that the Bible Society of Botswana has given her God’s Word, and many more people were pleased to receive some piece of Scripture which gave them comfort that God was with them as they faced their challenges. The Bible Society’s work was also welcomed and commended by the Assistant Minister of Agriculture and senior officials. Mr Kareng said that although it is the government’s policy to restock 30 per cent of the livestock lost and to offer financial compensation for the other 70 per cent, the policy nevertheless leaves farmers worse off “because compensation for cattle is at the same amount regardless of their size”. In the early 1990s, an outbreak of Cattle Lung Disease in Botswana caused widespread economic suffering and a new outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease hit the region in February. (WR 376/19 - 4/5.03)
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