{"id":83360,"date":"2026-04-29T07:26:06","date_gmt":"2026-04-29T07:26:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/zone-3c-farmers-govt-clash-over-vaccination"},"modified":"2026-04-29T08:43:19","modified_gmt":"2026-04-29T08:43:19","slug":"zone-3c-farmers-govt-clash-over-vaccination","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/zone-3c-farmers-govt-clash-over-vaccination","title":{"rendered":"Zone 3C Farmers, Govt Clash over Vaccination"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Botswana. <\/strong><\/span>Zone 3C farmers are demanding urgent clarification from the Minister of Lands and Agriculture over a decision to vaccinate livestock in an area with no detected Foot and Mouth Disease outbreak.<\/b><\/p>\n

Zone 3C farmers have called on the Minister of Lands and Agriculture, Edwin Dikoloti to urgently clarify the rationale behind the decision to vaccinate livestock in the area, despite no Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) outbreak having been detected.<\/p>\n

Farmers say the move has left them uncertain about the implications for their livestock status, market access and overall livelihoods.<\/p>\n

\u201cIN THE DARK\u201d<\/p>\n

Speaking in an interview, Zone 3C Farmers Committee chairman Tlhabologo Kalichi, who represents farmers around Maitengwe and surrounding areas, said the community is seeking urgent answers from government.Botswana Travel Guide<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are demanding clarity about the consequences of vaccinating unaffected livestock. Once we get clarity, we will take a stand on the decision taken by government. For now we don\u2019t have any position; we are just in the dark, and that is why we are demanding clarity from the minister,\u201d said Kalichi.<\/p>\n

He said a meeting scheduled for the 24th of this month is expected to provide answers, after which farmers hope to take a collective position on the way forward.<\/p>\n

Kalichi further noted that since the FMD outbreak in Zone 3B earlier this year, farmers in Zone 3C have been left with several unanswered questions, saying their concerns have not been adequately addressed by the ministry.<\/p>\n

POLITICAL CONCERNS OVER \u201cECONOMIC IMPACT\u201d<\/p>\n

The issue has also attracted political attention, with Area Member of Parliament Motlhaleemang Moalosi calling on the minister to suspend the vaccination exercise pending broader consultation with stakeholders.Politics<\/p>\n

In a letter to the minister, Moalosi described the vaccination programme as \u201ctechnically flawed, scientifically inconsistent and carrying a sentence of economic doom\u201d for affected farmers.<\/p>\n

He warned that Zone 3C is currently classified as a green zone, and said any vaccination exercise could result in an automatic downgrade to a red zone status.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis classification will instantly collapse livestock value and strip farmers of their livelihoods,\u201d Moalosi stated.<\/p>\n

CALLS FOR PREVENTIVE MEASURES OVER VACCINATION<\/p>\n

Moalosi argued that government should prioritise preventive interventions rather than what he termed reactive measures, urging authorities to strengthen border biosecurity instead.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe government should immediately repair cordon fences, increase patrol resources to maintain the integrity of the current green status and strengthen biosecurity measures along the entire transboundary border,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

AWAITING MINISTERIAL RESPONSE<\/p>\n

As pressure mounts from both farmers and political leaders, attention now turns to the Ministry of Lands and Agriculture for a response, with stakeholders warning that the decision could have far-reaching implications for livestock trade and rural livelihoods in Zone 3C.Politics<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Botswana<\/span> Follow Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Botswana. Zone 3C farmers are demanding urgent clarification from the Minister of Lands and Agriculture over a decision to vaccinate livestock in an area with no detected Foot and Mouth Disease outbreak. Zone 3C farmers have called on the Minister of Lands and Agriculture, Edwin Dikoloti to urgently clarify the rationale behind the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":83359,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,7,12],"tags":[234],"class_list":["post-83360","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-head-lines","category-policy","tag-botswana"],"yoast_head":"\nZone 3C Farmers, Govt Clash over Vaccination - Botswana<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Zone 3C farmers are demanding urgent clarification from the Minister of Lands and Agriculture over a decision to vacc ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/zone-3c-farmers-govt-clash-over-vaccination\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Zone 3C Farmers, Govt Clash over Vaccination\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Zone 3C farmers are demanding urgent clarification from the Minister of Lands and Agriculture over a decision to vacc ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/zone-3c-farmers-govt-clash-over-vaccination\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Botswana\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-04-29T07:26:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-04-29T08:43:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/botswana\/sites\/38\/2026\/04\/sm_1777439375.095972.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"630\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/zone-3c-farmers-govt-clash-over-vaccination#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/zone-3c-farmers-govt-clash-over-vaccination\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Zone 3C Farmers, Govt Clash over Vaccination\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-04-29T07:26:06+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-04-29T08:43:19+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/zone-3c-farmers-govt-clash-over-vaccination\"},\"wordCount\":467,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/zone-3c-farmers-govt-clash-over-vaccination#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/botswana\/sites\/38\/2026\/04\/sm_1777439375.095972.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Botswana\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"head lines\",\"policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/zone-3c-farmers-govt-clash-over-vaccination#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/zone-3c-farmers-govt-clash-over-vaccination\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/zone-3c-farmers-govt-clash-over-vaccination\",\"name\":\"Zone 3C Farmers, Govt Clash over Vaccination - Botswana\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/zone-3c-farmers-govt-clash-over-vaccination#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/zone-3c-farmers-govt-clash-over-vaccination#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/botswana\/sites\/38\/2026\/04\/sm_1777439375.095972.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-04-29T07:26:06+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-04-29T08:43:19+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"description\":\"Zone 3C farmers are demanding urgent clarification from the Minister of Lands and Agriculture over a decision to vacc ...\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/zone-3c-farmers-govt-clash-over-vaccination#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/zone-3c-farmers-govt-clash-over-vaccination\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/zone-3c-farmers-govt-clash-over-vaccination#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/botswana\/sites\/38\/2026\/04\/sm_1777439375.095972.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/botswana\/sites\/38\/2026\/04\/sm_1777439375.095972.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":630,\"caption\":\"Zone 3C Farmers, Govt Clash over Vaccination\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/zone-3c-farmers-govt-clash-over-vaccination#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Zone 3C Farmers, Govt Clash over Vaccination\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/\",\"name\":\"Botswana\",\"description\":\"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\",\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"cfeditoren\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Zone 3C Farmers, Govt Clash over Vaccination - Botswana","description":"Zone 3C farmers are demanding urgent clarification from the Minister of Lands and Agriculture over a decision to vacc ...","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/zone-3c-farmers-govt-clash-over-vaccination","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Zone 3C Farmers, Govt Clash over Vaccination","og_description":"Zone 3C farmers are demanding urgent clarification from the Minister of Lands and Agriculture over a decision to vacc ...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/zone-3c-farmers-govt-clash-over-vaccination","og_site_name":"Botswana","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa","article_published_time":"2026-04-29T07:26:06+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-04-29T08:43:19+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":630,"url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/botswana\/sites\/38\/2026\/04\/sm_1777439375.095972.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"cfeditoren","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"cfeditoren","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/zone-3c-farmers-govt-clash-over-vaccination#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/zone-3c-farmers-govt-clash-over-vaccination"},"author":{"name":"cfeditoren","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"headline":"Zone 3C Farmers, Govt Clash over Vaccination","datePublished":"2026-04-29T07:26:06+00:00","dateModified":"2026-04-29T08:43:19+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/zone-3c-farmers-govt-clash-over-vaccination"},"wordCount":467,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/zone-3c-farmers-govt-clash-over-vaccination#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/botswana\/sites\/38\/2026\/04\/sm_1777439375.095972.jpg","keywords":["Botswana"],"articleSection":["all news","head lines","policy"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/zone-3c-farmers-govt-clash-over-vaccination#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/zone-3c-farmers-govt-clash-over-vaccination","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/zone-3c-farmers-govt-clash-over-vaccination","name":"Zone 3C Farmers, Govt Clash over Vaccination - Botswana","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/zone-3c-farmers-govt-clash-over-vaccination#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/zone-3c-farmers-govt-clash-over-vaccination#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/botswana\/sites\/38\/2026\/04\/sm_1777439375.095972.jpg","datePublished":"2026-04-29T07:26:06+00:00","dateModified":"2026-04-29T08:43:19+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"description":"Zone 3C farmers are demanding urgent clarification from the Minister of Lands and Agriculture over a decision to vacc ...","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/zone-3c-farmers-govt-clash-over-vaccination#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/zone-3c-farmers-govt-clash-over-vaccination"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/zone-3c-farmers-govt-clash-over-vaccination#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/botswana\/sites\/38\/2026\/04\/sm_1777439375.095972.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/botswana\/sites\/38\/2026\/04\/sm_1777439375.095972.jpg","width":1200,"height":630,"caption":"Zone 3C Farmers, Govt Clash over Vaccination"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/zone-3c-farmers-govt-clash-over-vaccination#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Zone 3C Farmers, Govt Clash over Vaccination"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/","name":"Botswana","description":"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb","name":"cfeditoren","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"cfeditoren"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83360","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/84"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=83360"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83360\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":83379,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83360\/revisions\/83379"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/83359"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=83360"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=83360"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=83360"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}