Nutrition plays a vital role in maintaining livestock health and supporting efforts to combat Foot-And-Mouth Disease (FMD).
Feedmaster Technical Advisor Frank Kanguatjivi highlighted this during an interview with NBC News.
He emphasised the importance of proper nutrition in livestock, highlighting how essential nutrients help maintain animal health and strengthen their resistance to diseases.
"Nutrition plays a big role in a livestock's makeup on a daily basis; a cow with a poor body condition obviously is more susceptible to diseases than a fed cow, so yes, nutrition does contribute to improving the condition of a cow, so if a cow is in a poor body condition, yes, it will be more susceptible to diseases more easily than a fed one or more rounded-off animals compared to a thin one."
Kanguatjivi encouraged farmers to provide their livestock with nutritional supplements throughout the year, rather than during periods when diseases such as FMD are reported.
"Supplementation should not be based on scenarios such as this one; it should be a continuous thing as a farmer in the sense that we have about twelve months of the year, and you know what your livestock are to produce every year. So nutrition, which is basically supplementation in this sense, is a continuous thing, which means that from the rainy season to the dry season, you should provide supplements throughout the year to your livestock in order to boost their immune system to enhance their reproduction."
He highlighted the importance of using immune-boosting supplements in livestock that are not specifically FMD-related while considering seasonal changes and grazing conditions that affect livestock feed requirements.
"Supplements that can contribute to improving the immune system are maintenance licks that are suitable for the dry seasons and maintaining licks during the rainy season, so there are products on the market, but these are not FMD-based supplements but supplements that you provide throughout the year from January to December. So in the current season we are currently in, you provide Dryveld-based supplements such as cattle licks 415 Dryveld-based. So supplements are also quite effective if you have enough grazing. So if you do not have grazing where you are farming, then you have to switch to feeds."
Additionally, Kanguatjivi urged all Namibians to take all precautionary measures to prevent the spread of the foot and mouth disease.
"So farmers and fellow Namibians out there, let's be the solution and not the problem in terms of you being the first to control the disease. You are by disinfecting your car, by avoiding unnecessary farm visits where you are not needed, and also by avoiding gatherings that are not needed to stop the spread of the disease. So it starts with us as farmers and fellow Namibians that are also affected by the whole outbreak."