Rangeland condition and feed resources in Metema District, North ...

5 Conclusion and recommendations
5.1 Conclusion
This study was conducted in Metema district, North Gondar Zone, Amhara National
Regional State of northwestern Ethiopia. The aims of the study were to characterize the
existing rangeland, to determine the available feed resources and utilization practices,
to assess the natural grazing land based on herbaceous and woody biomass and soil
condition and to evaluate the chemical composition of major livestock feed resources
of the area. The feed resources utilization practice of the district was assessed through
interviewing 140 households using a semi-structured questionnaire, group discussions
and personal observations. For the study of rangeland condition, the district was classified
into cotton–livestock and sesame–livestock farming systems and three grazing types
(communal grazing, enclosure and road side grazing areas). Data on grass species
composition, basal and litter covers, age distribution, soil erosion, soil compaction and
woody species density, tree height class, canopy cover and hedging effect were collected.
In Metema, the mean family size is 5.31 ± 0.20 persons and the level of education is
low. Smallholder crop–livestock mixed farming is dominant and is the main occupation
of the people. The mean land holding is 6.78 ± 1.33 ha per household, and the land use
pattern includes annual cropping, perennial cropping, communal grazing, fallowing and
private grazing. Cattle are the dominant livestock followed by small ruminant (goats and
sheep), donkeys and camel. The mean total livestock holding per household is 27.58 ±
13.72 TLU, and is composed of 12.52 ± 6.23 TLU cattle, 0.80 ± 0.40 TLU goats, 0.13 ±
0.07 TLU sheep, 0.65 ± 0.32 TLU donkeys and 0.07 ± 0.04 TLU camels. Female stocks
of cattle and goats are dominant in both farming systems because male stocks are sold
at earlier ages and females are retained as replacement breeding stock. In addition,
ownership of large number of cows is considered as prestige and wealth ranking by the
community.
The major livestock feed resources in Metema are natural pasture, crop residues, crop
aftermath and fallow land. Natural pasture is the major sources of livestock feed,
and contributes to 59.3, 72.9, 72.1 and 42.1% of the diets of cattle, goat, sheep and
donkeys, respectively. Although there is surplus feed during the rainy season, these
pastures can hardly maintain animals in the dry season due to limited availability and
very low nutritive value. Free grazing, tethering and cut-and-carry feeding systems are
the commonly practised feeding systems in both farming systems. Animals are allowed
to graze in communal grazing land, forest land and fallow lands (privately owned land)
during the wet season and from October onwards. From the total area of the district,
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