aistand south~ern afrkca - (PDF, 101 mb) - USAID

various types of cattle under rural conditions
are:
0 about 1-3 litres/day (150 lactation days) for
indigenous breeds;
• 4-10 litres/day (240 lactation days) for
crossbreds; and
0 more forpebhan1ltre than 10 litrea/day
sa
(300
(c
lactation
l n
days)
dwas
for purebred exotic cows,
The uses of cattle on smallholdur farms
include draft power, supplying meat and milk
and pioviding manure as fertiliser. Breeding
programmes should take account of these
usages.
Due to exorbitant prices of pure exotics, as
well as their poor adaptation to the smallholder
environment (disease and scarce grazing),
crossbreeding has been seen as the only viable
and feasible option to introduce milk production
in the smallholder sector. The argument is that
it would not make economic sense to buy a cow
with a high potential milk yield and then place
it in an environment in which it could produce
only as much as a crossbred or indigenous cow.
Hence, the general recommendation for
Zimbabwe is to cross the Jersey with indigenous
Sanga, with crossbred ranging from 50 to 75%
exotic blood. This combination capitalises on the
dairy production traits of the exotic while
retaining the valuable characteristics of
hardiness, adaptability and disease resistance of
the local breeds.
In smallholder dairy enterprises, the veld
remains the main source of nutrients for cows in
summer, while conserved veld hay and crop
residues are used during the winter. The veld is
often the most abundant and cheapest source of
forage for dairy cows but provides the least in
terms of dry-matter and nutrient intake. The
availability and quality of veld has a significant
effect on the amount of milk that can be produced
from it. Communal grazing does not allow
rationalisation of veld use and there remains a
need to limit livestock numbers to sustainable
productive stocking rates,
Bulk fodder crops such as Bana, Napier
(Pennisetum purpureum cultivars) and Green
Gold and legumes such as Leucaena, Siratro
(Macroptilium atropurpureum) and fine-stem
stylo (Stylosanthes guianensis) have been
introduced to smallholder farmers to increase
feed supplies. However, fodder yields and the
acreage planted to fodder crops remain far from
adequate.
Origin and conception of the
development programme
A positive Government policy encouraged the
Dairy Marketing Board (DMB) to look into the
possibility of persuading small-scale and
communal farmers to participate in the dairy
industry. The DMB formed the Peasant Sector
Development Programme, which was later
167
named the Dairy Development Programme and
moved to ADA. Dairy Development Programme
projects have benefited from the large-scale
commercial sector in terms of technology and
foundation stock.
To start the programme, two pilot projects
were
the
initiated
intention
in Mashonaland
of the
East
programme
Province. It
to identify
and operate two projects per province, one
in Small-Scale Commercial Farming Area
(SSCFA), the other in the communal and resettlement
areas. Support was solicited from
Government and donor agencies. Donor
assistance came from NORAD, DANIDA, the
EEC, Heifer Project International (HPI) and
Christian Care.
To facilitate uniformity in approach to
dairying by the various agencies, a dairy
coordinating meeting was created. Planning
committees in various project areas were
established to incorporate all relevant agencies
(both governmental and non-governmental), influential
leaders in the community, businessmen
and political leaders. This improved awareness
and acceptance of project/programme objectives.
Early adoption of technologies
Small-scale dairying is a new concept in
Zimbabwe and had to be introduced by persuasion
into SSCFA, communal and resettlement
areas. Demonstration plots in participating
communal and resettlement schemes
were established; these served as training
centres for both the programme staff and
farmers. Various technologies recommended to
farners were first tested on demonstration plots.
As farmers adopted these technologies, the
function of the demonstration plots changed to
become commercial production units, seed
multiplication units or bull centres.
Marirangwe in an SSCFA and Chikwaka in a
commual area were chosen as a pilot scheme.
The positive results in these two locations
stimulated interest in the remaining selected
project areas. Adoption rates were strongly
determined by resource availability. Since
dairying is both capital and management
intensive, it suited richer members of the
community. Studies have indicated that 60% of
the population in communal areas do not own
cattle and these people are slow to adopt
dairying. The DMB's prerequisite of each farmer
building an approved milk shed was also a
hurdle to adoption by poor farmers and can be
viewed as an additional constraint to this group.
Most projects register an adoption rate of less
than 10% when measured in terms of active or
producing members out ofthe total membership.
However, in Marirangwe and Rusitu,
respectively, 50% and 75% of tih, members are
productive. Production trends dso show the
same pattern. Probably more farmers would
have been in production had it not been for the