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

" a permanent water source should be within a
reasonable dietance
"
• animal
the participating
she] ter should be constructedteh
farmer should establish
pte or fodder plots ,)fnot less than
pasture o der peranotal
approximately 0.6 ha per animal
* thenumberofcattleperhouseholdshouldnot
exceed three cows and one bull. Suckling
calves, chould be removed after attaining 18
months
, a tarmer should buy basic equipment and
drugs for animal disease control, such as
acaricides and hand spray
" improved dairy cattle w2re the only breed
types allowed in the HADO areas,
Foundation stock of improved animals
Tanzania mainland had only 143,410 dairygrade
cattle in 1984 (MALD, 1988) in the hands of
parastatals, smallholders and government
farms. t was initially thought that the LPRI,
Mpwapwa, could supply the improved animals
(Mpwapwa breed) to farmers in the closed areas
but this was not possible due to their limited
numbers at the station. The Mpwapwa breed has
approximately the following percentages of
genotype make up: 32% Red Sindhi, 30%
Sahiwal, 19%Boran, 11% Tanganyika Shorthorn
Zebu (TSZ) and 8% Boa taurus(mostly Ayrshire)
(Kiwuwa and Kyomo, 1971). As the breed is
composed of predominantly tropical varieties, it
was considered to be adaptable to the tropical
environment. The targeted milk production level
was 2300 kg per lactation, while the carcass
weight of the steers was expected to be 230 kg in
less than four years.
The smail number of improved livestock in
the country has made their prices prohibitive,
Even in the government's livestock farms/
institutions the cost of one pregnant improved
cow in 1989 was TSh 40,000 (about US$ 200), a
price too high for most farmers. Bearing in mind
this problem, two suggestions were put forward:
That the farmers interested in keeping the
improved animals should pay half of the cost
of purchasing the animals on condition 'hat
the project first and female
sold calf to another would be farmer, retuned
The to other the
proecthandsoltoancoterfrmer. the
half of the
oer
cost was covered by the p~oject.
" Farmers who could not afford to pay half the
coat were permitted to use the best milkers
from their local herds, but on condition that
they would be mated to improved bulls.
The idea of obtaining some of the best
milkers from the local herds, was regarded as the
most cost effective and fastest means of
disseminating technology in the area.
Dependence on improved cows/heifers from
either LPRI, Mpwapwa, or its sister institutions
would be unrealistic. Furthermore, locally raised
animals were more likely to be adapted to the
environment.
203
Farmers'views towards this
technoigy package
lg pa ae
Results from a survey showed that almost
farmers,
all the
particularly those who
possessed
previously
livestock, were interested in the
scheme of keeping an improved animal. Hewever,
as agro-pastoralism was the dominant
agricultural form and uncontrolled grazing was
the main characteristic in these areas, most
farmers were hesitant to assume the risk of
adopting the newly introduced technologies of
forage production, construction of a shed and
stall-feeding. The new technology was developed
and adopted almost exclusively in areas of high
population density where farm holdings are too
small to e'commodate traditional grazing practices.
Kondoa District was chosen by HADO
officials as a project site on the basis that it had
a history of severe soil erosion. The Project
started in 1989 with educa4ional meetings,
seminars and farm visits couducted by LPRI's
research and technical teams. Initially, 20
fanners accepted the package and purchased the
improved dairy cows and a few more opted to
retrieve their best -ailkers from the translocated
local herds.
A batch of 20 improved cows/heifers were
purchased by the project from the Liv-tOck
Research Centre (LRC) at Tanga in the coastal
belt of the country. Early in 1990, the heifers
were sent to LPRI, Mpwapwa for mating before
they were supplied to the farmers. By September
1990, the pregnant heifers/cows started to calve.
The animals from LRC had about 75% exotic
blood, mainly Ayrshire, Friesian and Jersey
types. This high level ofexotic blood was a source
of concern as it was felt that it was too high for
the semi-arid areas. However, animal performance
in the closed areas has so far been
satief'actory r.nd preliminary analysis of milk
production showezi that the milk yield from the
improved cows ranged from 5 to 20 (mean = 11)
kg per animal
from
per
the local
day,
cows
while
ranged
milk
from
production
3 to 8 (mean =
5) kg per cow per day. This excludes the milk
suckled by the calves.
Another group of 20 improved heifer crosses
between Bos taurusand mostly Friesian and TSZ
from LRC and West Kilimanjaro (in the northern
part of the country) were transferred to LPRI,
Mpwapwa, in late 1991 and are currently being
mated before they are supplied to farmers. In the
past two years the introduced cattle have
performed well. The large quantity of milk
produced has attracted the attention if a
significant number of households in the closed
areas, thus more families became interested in
keeping improved dairy cows. This development
led to a situation where demand out-stripped
supply of the improved animals.
To date, there is a total of 55 animals in the
zero-grazing scheme in five villages in Kondoa