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

Intensive animal feeding practices for optimum feed
utilisation
Summary
A. Abate, B.H. Dzowela 2 and J.A. Kategile 3
1. Department of Animal Production, University of Nairobi,
P.O. Box 29053, Nairobi, Kenya.
2. International Centre for Research in Agroforestry (ICRAF),
P.O.Box 8108, Causeway, Harare, Zimbabwe.
3. International Livestock Centre for Africa (ILCA),
P.O. Box 3211, Harare, Zimbabwe.
Decreasing farm size and the opportunity to
market livestock products*has promoted the
development of intensive production systems in
East and southern Africa. This paper reviews the
characteristics of the common feed resources
used in small-scale intensive farming systems in
east-rn and southern Africa. The data analysed
,.owthatreasonableresponsesarepossiblefrom
gowing heifers and lactatingcow' fed cultivated
fodder. Crop residues, on the other hand, need
supplementation with concentrates or forage
legumes to sustain animal production.
Constraints to Intensive feeding identified
include shortages of land, feed and labour ItIs
suggested that economics will ultimately dictate
the solution to the three-way interaction between
feed availability, intensive feeding systems and
labour.
Introduction
Data from the Food and Agricultural Organization
of the United Nations (FAO) indicate that
the regional ruminant herd inEast and southern
Africa comprises 88 million cattle, 54 million
goats, 46 million sheep and 7 million camels
(FAO data covers the following countries:
Angola, Botswana, Burundi, Ethiopia, Kenya,
Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius,
Mozambique, B," ;nda, Somalia, Swaziland,
Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe).
The bulk of these animals utilise what FAQ
classifies as permanent pasture. Based on these
data, permanent pasture occupies between 4%
(Mauritius) and 73% (Potswana) ofthe total land
area in the various countkies. In the majority of
the countries pastures occupy 23 to 60% of the
land area. Virtually all the permanent pasture
areas are not improved and therefore the
ruminants depend on natural forages and
browses which vay widely in quantity ard
quality through the year. Generally, ample
herbaceous feed ofgood quality is available in the
rainy season, while feed is inadequate in both
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quantity and quality d'uring the dry season. As a
result livestock productivity varies with the
season. While technologies for improving
natural pastures are available, they face serious
constraints such as communal ownership and
grazing in the traditional sector. Currently the
traditional communrI grazing system is under
pressure. Human popuiation is increasing,
arable cropping is expanding and grazing areas
are decreasing. Houisehold farm size is also
decreasing due to subdivision and individual
user/ewnership competition over the cultivated
areas has become more pronounced.
As a response to this land pressure, farming
systems that aim at maximising crop and animal
production per unit area have evolved in several
countries. There is a move towards utilisation of
planted forages and the use of crop residues and
purchased concentrates has increased. The focus
ofthis paper is on the feeding practices that have
evolved in intensive farming in some countries
of eastern and southern Africa, with particular
emphasis on dairy cattle. The objective is to
suggest wsys to opiimise feed utilisation.
Intensive livestock production
systems
The characteristics of intensive smallholder
livestock nroduction s':stems in East and
southern Africa are:
* stall-feeding
* planted and sometimes irrigated pasture
plots or rows for feeding ruminants
. all manure is spread on crop and pasture plots
and
* crop residues, weeds etc are collected and fed
and/or conserved for feeding.
All these operations are labour intensive.
Livestock production thus competes with crops
(food and cash) for labour land, fertiliser and
recurrent funds for inputs. The adoption of
technologies such as improved livestock breeds
(e.g. dairy cattle for milk production) and
improved feeding, disease control and managemeat
are crucial tu promote both productivity
and efficiency. While all components are