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A leaked email in which a plea for help regarding the foot-and-mouth disease crisis was dismissed as a joke by the Chief of Staff of the Minister of Agriculture, is a slap in the face to every farmer currently affected by this crisis, says AfriForum. This incident serves as further evidence why farmers are losing confidence in the Department’s handling of the crisis and are increasingly insisting on being involved in the vaccination strategy.

“While farmers are trying to save their herds and protect their livelihoods, their concerns are being laughed off at the highest levels of the Department. This is unacceptable, insensitive and confirms the urgent need for a different approach to the handling of the foot-and-mouth disease crisis,” says Lambert de Klerk, Manager of Environmental Affairs at AfriForum.

The Chief of Staff of Minister John Steenhuisen allegedly dismissed an agricultural group’s request to be involved in the Department’s vaccination strategy in an email sent last week to the Director-General and Deputy Director-General of Agriculture. The email has since caused an uproar in the agricultural community.

“Farmers are not asking for sympathy, but for urgent action, access to vaccines, clear guidelines, swift decision-making and room for the private sector to assist. AfriForum therefore demands that the Minister immediately involve the private sector, agricultural groups and private veterinarians in the procurement, distribution and administration of vaccines,” says De Klerk.

AfriForum believes that the current damage and risk of reinfection could have been limited, or even prevented, if the government had made room from the outset for farmers, private veterinarians and the agricultural industry to be part of the solution. The centralised approach that was followed was too slow, too rigid and too far removed from the realities on farms.

The Department’s monopoly over the procurement and distribution of vaccines, together with poor communication and unclear compliance requirements, is placing further pressure on farmers who are already under immense strain. Farmers cannot be forced to participate in a system of which the costs, timelines and practical implications remain uncertain.

“The time for contempt and centralised control is over. Farmers’ herds, livelihoods and the country’s food security cannot continue to pay the price for a state that listens too little and acts too slowly,” De Klerk concludes.

Issued by AfriForum