19 November 2015<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Ralph Spence is a farmer at heart and like all members of that \u201cbreed\u201d, he\u2019s never happier than when he\u2019s out and about talking to and assisting local livestock holders in the Mbashe area.<\/p>\n

Ralph Spence is a farmer at heart and like all members of that \u201cbreed\u201d, he\u2019s never happier than when he\u2019s out and about talking to and assisting local livestock holders in the Mbashe area.<\/p>\n

Describing himself as a \u201csmall livestock man\u201d, Ralph drives the Donald Woods Foundation\u2019s livestock health programme along with fieldworker Richard Mboko, working closely with local subsistence and small-scale farmers to boost animal health and overall food security.<\/p>\n

From farming stock himself, Ralph grew up in the north Eastern Cape area (Barkly East), is an isiXhosa speaker, trained at Cedara College of Agriculture and has worked for veterinary pharmaceutical firms.<\/p>\n

Protecting homestead herds from common livestock ailments such as tick-borne diseases, internal parasites, heart water and scab in sheep is vitally important as livestock herds usually represent a rural family\u2019s capital assets and their savings for a rainy day.<\/p>\n

A typical day starts around dawn with early departures for villages in the field where local smallholders and homesteads are visited to determine needs and solutions to problems. The programme covers a large area including the Cwebe, Nkanya, Hobeni, Mabambeni, Mount Pleasant, Mbanyana, Nabane, Kwaaiman and Dabane areas to name a few.<\/p>\n

In an area such as Hobeni, Ralph says heart water is particularly troublesome for sheep in coastal areas and the percentage of lambing losses can be as high as 20% in many cases. Sheep scab, a mite causing extreme itch and irritation in the skin of sheep, is another troublesome burden for livestock owners.<\/p>\n

The DWF Livestock Programme provides veterinary medicines at zero profit rates to local farmers in remote and isolated areas where roads and veterinary services are either extremely scarce or non-existent.<\/p>\n

While local farmers do their own dipping, says Ralph, livestock owners are also given practical training in growing their herds and how best to prevent stock losses due to internal parasites, tick-borne diseases and good grazing practices.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s an important programme and helping people or making a difference in their lives is very rewarding,\u201d says Ralph.<\/p>\n

He paid tribute to his partner, Richard, saying \u201cworking with Richard is great as he is brilliant with elderly livestock owners plus he loves animals\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

19 November 2015 Ralph Spence is a farmer at heart and like all members of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[110,111,108,125,113,106,107],"tags":[135,134,133,141,131],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7DEjh-17m","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4390,"url":"https:\/\/www.donaldwoodsfoundation.org\/dwfs-pioneering-livestock-programme-featured-in-farmers-weekly\/","url_meta":{"origin":4300,"position":0},"title":"DWF\u2019s Livestock Programme featured in Farmer\u2019s Weekly","date":"June 13, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"The innovative DWF Livestock Support programme is the subject of a feature article in the influential Farmer\u2019s Weekly magazine, out this week. Headlined \u201cImproving animal health in rural Eastern Cape\u201d, the three-page spread follows a day spent by journalist Grant Hollins in the field visiting livestock owners with the DWF\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Donald Woods Foundation"","img":{"alt_text":"IMG_4380 copy","src":"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/www.donaldwoodsfoundation.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/IMG_4380-copy.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4310,"url":"https:\/\/www.donaldwoodsfoundation.org\/building-the-donald-woods-centre-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":4300,"position":1},"title":"Building the Donald Woods Centre","date":"February 1, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"The Donald Wood Centre at Hobeni has been featured in an article in the Financial Times, London. Headlined Donald Woods Centre built in memory of South African activist, the article by Lily Le Brun relates how the\u00a0family of the famous anti-apartheid campaigner have established the headquarters of the Donald Woods\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Citizenship and active democracy"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/www.donaldwoodsfoundation.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/WP_20160201_10_29_51_Pro-e1460617539599.jpg?fit=1030%2C685&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4288,"url":"https:\/\/www.donaldwoodsfoundation.org\/prestigious-gathering-at-donald-woods-foundation-consultations\/","url_meta":{"origin":4300,"position":2},"title":"Prestigious gathering at Donald Woods Foundation Consultations","date":"October 12, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"12 October 2015 A wealth of ideas and innovation was generated by more than 25 academics and experienced rural development practitioners with hundreds of years of experience between them at a rural\/agri workshop at Hobeni. A wealth of ideas and innovation was generated by more than 25 academics and experienced\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Citizenship and active democracy"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4245,"url":"https:\/\/www.donaldwoodsfoundation.org\/new-dwf-head-office-at-donald-woods-birthplace\/","url_meta":{"origin":4300,"position":3},"title":"New DWF head office at Donald Wood’s birthplace","date":"May 23, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"23 May 2014 The Donald Woods Foundation has officially opened its new head office at Hobeni, in the deeply rural area of the Mbashe Local Municipality, Eastern Cape, South Africa. The old Hobeni trading store was where Donald Woods was born on 15 December 1933. The opening was attended by\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Citizenship and active democracy"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4253,"url":"https:\/\/www.donaldwoodsfoundation.org\/donald-woods-reburied-at-ancestral-home-in-transkei\/","url_meta":{"origin":4300,"position":4},"title":"Donald Woods reburied at ancestral home in Transkei","date":"September 8, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Internationally acclaimed anti-apartheid activist and former Daily Dispatch editor Donald Woods has been reburied, alongside his wife Wendy and their infant son Lindsay, at Woods\u2019 ancestral home in Hobeni in the former Transkei. Woods, whose perilous friendship with Steve Biko was the subject of Sir Richard Attenborough\u2019s Oscar-nominated film Cry\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Citizenship and active democracy"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4789,"url":"https:\/\/www.donaldwoodsfoundation.org\/our-cumulative-milestones\/","url_meta":{"origin":4300,"position":5},"title":"Our cumulative milestones","date":"July 1, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"The Donald Woods Foundation (DWF) has achieved notable milestones in its area of operations making a significant difference to the health and well-being of thousands of people. 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