Artificial insemination a win for Zimbabwe's farmers
Many smallholder farmers across Zimbabwe struggle with low livestock productivity and poverty. Traditional breeding methods often fail, leaving families with poor-quality animals and meager incomes.
When Sibanda crossbred artificially inseminated goats with naturally bred goats from Zimbabwe's Matabele region, he noticed significant improvements in fertility, size, and disease resistance in the crossbred goats.
'This isn't just good for me but benefits the whole community,' he said.
'The meat quality is better and more nutritious, so my family eats healthier, and we can sell more at higher prices.'
Behind this improvement is a team of researchers at Lupane State University testing low-cost reproductive technologies, including artificial insemination and crossbreeding in both poultry and goats, with early results showing striking gains.
They evaluated the impact of artificial insemination on goats and poultry across a number of smallholder farms.
While artificial insemination alone did not significantly outperform natural mating in goat fertility rates, both averaging around 85%, offspring resulting from crossbreeding the two lines exhibited superior performance in both size and reproductive success.
Female Matabele-Boer crosses, for instance, reached up to 57.5kg, compared to just 42.3kg in purebred Matabele goats.
In poultry, however, artificial insemination delivered a more dramatic result.
Fertility rates jumped from 54% with natural mating to 89% with artificial insemination.
Semen distribution
Artificial insemination is a technique already widely used in agriculture in many other countries to improve genetic quality and productivity in cattle and poultry.
In Zimbabwe, most poultry farms are owned by small-scale farmers, who typically keep one rooster with several hens. But roosters can be picky and mate only with their favorites.
With artificial insemination, farmers take semen from the rooster and give it to every hen.
'Artificial insemination allows for better semen distribution, so every hen gets bred properly,' explains Fortune Jomane, the lead researcher of the project and senior lecturer at Lupane State University.
'In contrast, natural mating often faces issues, like roosters only choosing a few hens, which lowers fertility.'
Extenders
Jomane and his team developed special solutions that keep sperm alive longer. They used three types of extenders: a so-called 'ringer's solution' containing sodium chloride, potassium chloride, and sodium lactate; an extender with glucose, and a saline solution. They compared these to undiluted semen to assess their effectiveness.
'We found that the ringer's solution worked very well, maintaining osmotic balance, preventing dehydration, and preserving the structural integrity of the sperm while maintaining pH levels,' Jomane said.
'The extenders nourish the sperm and serve as bulking agents, helping to maintain semen quality for extended periods.'
Forbes Chinyemba, senior technical officer for research management at RCZ, said 10 extension officers were trained to support farmers in using artificial insemination techniques in chickens to improve fertility rates.
'If you empower government extension officers, you empower the farmer too,' said Chinyemba.
Hands-on experience
Sibonangabo Sikhondze, a livestock expert from Eswatini, is convinced of the advantages of artificial insemination.
He stresses the need for community training, saying farmers learn best through hands-on experience.
To make the technique more accessible, Sikhondze recommends setting up local artificial insemination service centers, as well as awareness campaigns to help communities understand the advantages.
Jomane says some farmers are skeptical about the effectiveness of artificial insemination, while transport issues and limited communication can also be an obstacle for remote farmers.
Flooded rivers during the rainy season block access to farms and poor mobile network coverage makes it hard to contact farmers. Power shortages affect the cold storage needed to keep semen viable.
Source: Artificial insemination a win for Zimbabwe's farmers
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Does the new Bill remedy these defects? NO. The new clause 6(4)(a) requires miners to demonstrate an ability to invest 'such minimum sum as the Minister may prescribe' and lays down no specific amount for the investment. From the tenor of the clause however the prescribed amount will be very high, beyond the reach of all but the most serious miners [the memorandum to the Bill in fact says that miners will have to commit to invest at least US $1 million]. Furthermore, there are no guidelines or parameters limiting the Minister's discretion, so the Minister's power to fix and vary the amount will be just as wide as in the former Bill. · Clause 8(3)(a) (clause 9(3)(a) in the new Bill), which stated that members of the Mining Affairs Board who were public servants should remain members 'indefinitely'. The PLC found the clause violated principles of good governance laid down in section 9 of the Constitution, which demanded that members of the Board should serve fixed terms. 'No office on any Board,' the PLC said, 'can be allowed to run in perpetuity.' Does the new Bill remedy the defect? N O. Clause 9(3)(a) of the new Bill says that members hold office for 'a renewable term of four years', which means that their terms can be renewed indefinitely – which the PLC decided was unconstitutional in the earlier Bill. · Clause 12 (clause 13 of the new Bill), which permitted the Mining Affairs Board to state questions of law for decision by the Supreme Court, and gave the Court power to decide those questions. The PLC found this provision to be unconstitutional because section 168 of the Constitution declares the Supreme Court to be a court of appeal which hears only cases coming from courts, not from bodies such as the Mining Affairs Board. Does the new Bill remedy this defect? Yes, but only by creating another constitutional difficulty. According to clause 13 of the new Bill, the Mining Affairs Board will be able to state questions of law to be decided by the Administrative Court. This is legally permissible, though the High Court would be a better forum to decide questions of law. Although the Bill cures that defect, it goes on to create a worse one. Under clause 331 the Chief Justice will be obliged to set up a new Mining Court as a specialised Division of the High Court and, once he has done so, references in the Bill to the Administrative Court will have to be construed as references to the new Mining Court – except that the Administrative Court will 'continue to have exclusive jurisdiction' over certain matters set out in the Eighth Schedule to the Bill. Not only is this very confusing, it is also unconstitutional because section 171 of the Constitution gives the High Court original jurisdiction over 'all civil and criminal matters throughout Zimbabwe'. By purporting to give the Administrative Court exclusive jurisdiction over some mining disputes, the Bill seeks to deprive the High Court of its constitutional jurisdiction – which it cannot do. · Clause 35(4) (clause 37(5) of the new Bill) which stated that if a landowner refused permission for prospecting to be carried out near his or her homestead, the landowner would be prohibited from acquiring mining rights over the land for ten years. The PLC considered this violated landowners' property rights under section 71 of the Constitution and unfairly favoured the rights of miners over those of landholders. Does the new Bill remedy this defect? No. The new provision is exactly the same. · Clause 37 (clause 39 of the new Bill), which allowed landholders to register up to 100 hectares of their arable and pastoral land with a provincial mining director in order to protect the land against prospecting and pegging. The PLC considered this prejudiced landholders and farmers at the expense of miners. The PLC was also of the view that registration of land was the prerogative of the Ministry responsible for lands, not mines, and therefore the provision violated section 194(1) of the Constitution, which required government institutions to co-operate with each other. Does the new Bill remedy this defect? No. The new provision is exactly the same. · Clause 59 (clause 61 of the new Bill), which stated that if a miner had more claims than he or she had disclosed when registering his or her block of claims, the provincial mining director could demand payment from the miner for the extra claims. The PLC thought this provision, like many others in the Bill, gave too much power to provincial mining directors and would encourage corruption: the power to demand and receive money should be vested in the Mining Affairs Board. Does the new Bill remedy this defect? No. The new provision is the same. We should add that neither the old nor the new Bill seems to give miners a right to appeal against decisions of provincial mining directors so they are left without a proper remedy if directors incorrectly assess the number of their claims. · Clauses 72 and 111 (clauses 74 and 113 of the new Bill): clause 72(8) of the old Bill declared that there would be no appeal against certain decisions of the Mining Affairs Board, and clause 111 made a similar provision for certain decisions of the Minister – the decisions would be final. The PLC considered these clauses violated section 68(3) of the Constitution, which states that the law must provide for a review of administrative decisions. Does the new Bill remedy these defects? Yes, but only by creating fresh constitutional difficulties. The new clause 74 (equivalent to clause 72 of the old Bill) now says that decisions of the Mining Affairs Board will be reviewable by the Administrative Court [which will actually be the new Mining Court – see above] but only on very narrow procedural grounds specified in the clause. Clause 113 of the new Bill – equivalent to clause 111 of the old Bill – makes a similar provision for decisions of the Minister. The problem here is that section 68 of the Constitution gives everyone, including miners, the right to: 'administrative conduct that is lawful, prompt, efficient, reasonable, proportionate, impartial and both substantively and procedurally fair'. The procedural grounds of review permitted by clauses 74 and 113 are far narrower than those mandated by the Constitution – in particular, they will not allow courts to decide whether the decisions they are reviewing are reasonable, proportionate and fair, which is what the Constitution requires them to do. Hence the new clauses are unconstitutional. · Clause 130 (clause 132 of the new Bill): This clause stated that the grant of a mining lease over an area automatically cancelled the registration of all mining locations within the area. The PLC considered this provision deprived the miners concerned of their property rights without the safeguards set out in section 71(3) of the Constitution: in particular, the miners were not to be given notice of the cancellation, there was no provision for the government to get a court order confirming the cancellation, and the holders of the mining locations were not entitled to compensation. Does the new Bill remedy this defect? No. The new provision is the same. · Clause 131 (clause 133 of the new Bill), which prohibited anyone from challenging the validity of a mining lease. The PLC considered this violated section 68 of the Constitution, which states that everyone whose rights have been affected by administrative conduct – in this case the grant of a mining lease – has the right to be given written reasons for the conduct. More pertinently, the provision violated section 69 of the Constitution, which gives everyone the right to have their disputes resolved by a court or other tribunal. This means that a miner whose mining rights have been cancelled because of the grant of a mining lease to someone else, for example, or the holder of a mining lease who thinks he or she should have been granted a larger one, must have a right to take the matter to court. Does the new Bill remedy this defect? No. The new provision is the same. · Clauses 246 and 251 (clauses 248 and 253 of the new Bill): These clauses allow mining locations that are not being worked to be expropriated and transferred to the Minister of Mines. The PLC felt that they should be transferred to the State, not the Minister, presumably to avoid corruption. Does the new Bill remedy this defect? No. The new provisions are identical. · Clause 259: This clause prohibited officials in the Ministry of Mines from holding any financial or proprietary interest, direct or indirect, in mines or mining companies. The clause went on to say that in any legal proceedings accused officials would bear the burden of proving they did not act contrary to their duties as public officers. The PLC thought that shifting the burden of proof was unconstitutional. Does the new Bill remedy this defect? Yes, but in a shocking way. The entire clause has been omitted, so the Bill now contains nothing to prevent officials in the Ministry from acquiring mining interests for themselves. The opportunities this gives for corrupt behaviour are obvious. Admittedly there are other laws that penalise corruption – sections 173 and 174 of the Criminal Law Code, for example – but omitting the clause from the Bill sends entirely the wrong message to public servants, the message being: Join the Ministry of Mines and get rich. · Clause 298 (clause 308 of the new Bill): This clause made it a criminal offence for persons who discovered precious stones not to notify a provincial mining director within ten days of the discovery. The PLC felt that the clause imposed absolute liability on persons who discovered precious stones, even if they did not know the nature of what they had discovered, and so the clause was unconstitutional. Does the new Bill remedy this defect? No. The new provision remains the same. The defect would be very easy to put right, simply by adding words imposing criminal liability only on persons who fail to report their discovery 'knowingly and without lawful excuse'. Conclusion In this bulletin we have confined ourselves to seeing if the constitutional problems the PLC found in the earlier Bill have been rectified in the new Bill, and we have demonstrated quite clearly that they have not. There are many other defects in the Bill which we have not touched on, and not just constitutional ones. We shall deal with them in future bulletins. © Copyright The Zimbabwean. All rights reserved. Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (
