Zambia is among the five countries that will benefit from the Southern African Development Community (SADC) programme for strengthening of institutions on management of trans-boundary animal diseases fund, amounting to US$21.6 million.
Agriculture and Cooperatives Minister Ben Kapita said other countries that would
benefit from the fund, which have already been approved, are Angola, Malawi,
Mozambique and Tanzania.
Zambia was left out in the earlier project which benefited Zimbabwe, Malawi and
Mozambique for the foot and mouth project.
The current project would commence soon.
He told ZANIS that the countries would use the money to create a programme on how to
combat livestock diseases in the region.
“It is easy to combat the diseases when the affected countries work together,” he said.
He said Zambia was buying medicines for foot and mouth disease from Botswana while
the medicine for the Contagious Bovine Pleural Pneumonia (CBPP) was acquired from
France.
He pointed out that it was cheaper to purchase drugs from Botswana than France.
On the issue of the cordon line being constructed along Zambia’s western borderline,
Mr. Kapita said the project would continue with an extension of 700 kilometres.
The cordon line aims at controlling the movement of stray animals from Angola and
Botswana into the country.
