ICRISAT Archival Report 2006 - The seedlings of success in the ...

governments and land reform strategies offering opportunities for small scale livestock keepers to enter in
commercial markets.
Investment by small scale producers, and therefore also off takes, remain low – the question remain how to facilitate
the movement from low-input extensive systems to higher in-put higher output systems. This interest has grown as
these countries have begun to experience shortages of livestock products for domestic consumption. As populations,
incomes, and urbanization has grown, the demand for livestock products has increased.
In Zimbabwe the production of beef has declined substantially. Fast track land reform has caused a reduction of the
commercial cattle herd by 75% from 1996 to 2004, while recurrent droughts contributed to further losses of cattle in
the small-scale farming sector. During the same time the goat population has increased, with more than 90% of the
goats owned by small-scale farmers. Prices for goat meat are now at the same level as beef, offering opportunities
for small-scale goat farmers to enter commercial markets.
Although traders are increasingly buying cattle from smallholder farmers, there has been limited improvement in
animal condition and therefore product quality. The commercial market for goats and sheep remains grossly
underdeveloped. Transaction costs are high and most trade remains on the informal market. Pig production remains
concentrated in the hands of a few large-scale producers. While most smallholders keep poultry, almost all of the
poultry meat and eggs flowing through the commercial market are derived from a small number of larger-scale
enterprises. Similarly, though there have been a number of efforts to promote small-scale dairy production, most
milk and related products are derived from a few larger producers.
The baseline diagnosis by ICRISAT and partners highlights that particularly goats contribute to income and food
security of farmers. In the SAT of Zimbabwe only 46% of the goat keepers also own cattle. Cash income from goats
is crucial to cover day-to-day expenditures for food, education and human health. Cattle are more important for draft
power and milk, and support subsistence cropping activities. In addition, many women own goats and actively
participate in decision-making and management. Targeting women and vulnerable groups, to achieve increase
market access and investment in goat production would significantly contribute to improving household nutrition
and income. Yet, farmers cannot realize the full potential of their flocks. Only 11% of the goat flock is sold and 7%
is slaughtered for household consumption, while mortality at 26% results in huge losses. 93% of the farmers cited
dry season feed shortages as a major production constraint - this particularly affects farmers with small herds. Most
farmers started using crop residues for their goats, although the nutritional value in the dry season is low. With
limited access to markets and poor market information, farmers do not have the incentive to intensify feeding
technologies, and livestock production and off-take remain low.
The regional project on livestock and livelihood is developing approaches to integrate small-scale farmers into
commercial livestock markets and to illustrate how increased market participation can contribute to stronger
investment in feed production. The pilot schemes for livestock intensification through market-led technology change
target three countries, implemented by strong partnership between public and private sectors. Best bet technologies
will be selected in the course of evaluating existing market systems. An important outcome of the project is
documenting the process of multi-stakeholder dialogue for linking farmers to markets. Lessons learned will be
shared at a regional forum for judging potential transferability and wider application in other countries.
9C2. Identifying livestock-based risk management and coping options to reduce vulnerability to droughts in
agro-pastoral and pastoral systems in East and West Africa. Augustine A. Ayantunde (ICRISAT/ILRI), Bruno
Gerard (ICRISAT), Andrew Mude (ILRI), Tahirou Abdoulaye (INRAN), Matthew Turner (University of Wisconsin)
Michael Odhiambo (NGO: RECONCILE)
There is a growing consensus that the frequency and severity of meteorological droughts in arid and semi-arid zones
of Africa have increased (UNEP 2002; Dietz et al. 2004), where pastoralism and agro-pastoralism are the dominant
livestock production systems. There is also a general agreement that the pastoralists and agro-pastoralists in these
agro-ecological zones have become more vulnerable to climatic shocks, especially droughts (Campbell 1999; FAO
2001; UNEP 2002; Niamir-Fuller 1999). Common reasons given for this include demographic pressure,
sedentarization of the pastoralists, restricted access to lands, expansion of crop fields into grazing areas and
livestock corridors, poverty, lack of effective marketing infrastructure for livestock, and poor institutional
preparedness (FAO 2001; UNEP 2002). Livestock as a store of wealth play an important role in drought mitigation
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