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

Results temperate climate of sub-Saharan Africa,
crossbred cattle can out-yield indigenous stock
Milk yield fourfold, provided that modest improvements
Average lactation and daily milk yields ofproject
animals at the two project sites are summarised
in Table 1. The political instability that prevailed
in the country in 1991 made regular visits to
farms impossible, which in turn affected data
collection at various levels. The interruption was
greater at Holetta (highlands site), where milk
yields were taken for six months only for some
farmers and less for others. At Bako (midaltitude
site) farmers continued milk recording
without interription and a full lactation record
was obtained (Table 1).
This discrepancy in data collection precluded
any reasonable comparison between the
performance of breeds or sites. Nevertheless,
Friesian crosses appeared to perform better in
beth milk yield and lactation length than did the
Jexsey crosses. Cows at Holetta tended to follow
the same trend although the differences seemed
quite low (Table 1). However, at both sites, the
number of cows involved was too small to make
a statistically sound inference about the two test
groups.
Earlier on-station evaluation results
indicated that there was no significant difference
in the fat-uncorrected annual milk yield between
Friesian and Jersey crosses (Sendros et al,
1987a). Friesian and Jersey F1 crossbred cows at
Bako were able to produce only 81% and 55%,
respectively, of the milk they yielded on-station,
The yie!d achieved on-farm, however, did not
take account of the portion of milk suckled by
calves before each milking. Survey results for
Holetta (Zinashi and Seyoum, 1991) and Bako
(Tesfaye, 1991) revealed that indigenous cattle
breeds at these sites did not yield on average
more than one kg of milk per cow a day. The
limited available data in this small-scale dairy
study showed that with reasonable management
practices, Jersey and Friesian F1 cows could, on
average, yield four to five times the milk
obtainable from indigent is breeds on-farm,
However, at the higher altitudes and more
are made in their management and nutrition.
The extreme variability in milk yield in the
study, between and within breeds, could be
attributed to both genetic and management
factors. As tent animals were Fi progeny from
unselected populations and managad differently
(especially feeding) by farmers, variability in
milk production was not unexpected. Farmers
tended to feed their cows with whatever feed
resources they had at their disposal. Thus the
feed varied in nutrient content, which %tuld
have influenced animal performance. Tiiis
remains one of the key problems contributing to
the difficulties of on-farm livestock research. A
comparison between individually and
co-operative owned and managed cows shows
that individually owned cattle were more
productive (Table 1) probably because they
receive more atte ition.
Milk market'ig
An efficiernc milk collection and distribution
system to distribute milk from the farmer to the
consumer is a critical factor in dairy develcpment.
Most milk produced in the rural areas
of sub-Saharan Africa is consumed at home or
bartered, either as fresh or sour milk. Only in the
vicinity of urban markets are milk surpluses
processed into dairy products with longer
shelf-life (O'Mahony and Peters, 1987). Brumby
and Gryseels (1984) reported that in dairy
p
development projects where milk collection and
cooling centres had been established to cater for
groups of consumers, smallholder participation
in dairy development flourished. There is some
evidence that traditional marketing systems
tend to be low-cost operations and that they are
in a position to pay higher prices to producers.
Experience has shown that, modern marketing
often cannot compete with the traditional
systems for raw milk supplies, especially if the
official prices are fixed.
Table 1. Average milk ylol and lactation length ofcows on-farm at Bako and Holetta.
Location
Breed
type
No.
cows
Bakoa BaF 4 b
Sako
BaJ
Holettac BaF
Holetta BaF 50
Holetta BaJ 40
5 b
20 b
Mean milk yield Mean lactation length Mean daily
(kg)
1488.0±488.35
970.4±402.56
98 4 .1±856. 82
644.0±222.61 d
5 1 8 .6±2 5 4 . 5 9 d
a.= Subhumid mid-altitude climate. b.= Cows owned by individual farmers.
c.= Highland climate.
d.= Milk yield for 6 months.
9.= Cows owned by farmem' cooperaives.
BaF = Barka x Fdiesan.
BaJ = Barka x Jersey.
53
(day) (kg)
300.5±43.78 5.0±1.81
256.8±68.56 3.9±1.61
169.6±64.52 5.4±3.93
152.2±11.85 4.2±1.29
110.4±18.06 4.5±1.54