Conservation agriculture Tanzania_casestudy.pdf - Sokoine ...

Figure 2. Land physiography.Livestock productionAnimals kept in the district are mainly indigenous cattle (149,242), dairy cattle(2892), goats (239,052), dairy goats (100), sheep (43,961), indigenous chickens(62,062), pigs (8836) and donkeys. An average of 7.5% of the population engagesonly in livestock keeping, the Barbaigs being the pastoralist community (URT2004b). About 90% of the households engage in mixed farming. Crop–livestockintegration helps farmers minimize risk and recycle nutrients. Crop residue is usedas animal feed and in turn farmyard manure is applied on the field to improvesoil fertility. Donkeys and oxen are used for cultivation and transportation. HeiferProject Tanzania has been promoting zero grazing and improved dairy cattle andgoats in the area (HPT 2002).Interventions by Heifer Project Tanzania resulted in increased milk production ofapproximately 10 litres per cow per day, which ironically resulted in marketingproblems during the season of peak milk production. While free-range grazing isstill practised, in many areas it is decreasing in popularity. Additionally, there arebylaws prohibiting free-range grazing though they are weakly enforced.Due to land scarcity, it is increasingly difficult for pastoralists to find adequate opengrazing land for their livestock. Village governments try to balance the need forland between crop farmers and pastoralists and to minimize conflict by allocatingareas where pastoralists can graze their livestock.MarketingAgricultural business is current operating under a free market system. Prices haveto be negotiated and this has disadvantaged farmers, who are no match for privatetraders, who skilfully negotiate low prices. Prices may be extremely low during thepeak season but could also be high during the off season. Sometimes during a yearof bumper yields, farmers are forced to sell their crops at cheaper prices because theKaratu District 65