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

Summary
Dtal-purpose cattle in central Tanzania
V. G. Rushalaza I and J. S. KasontL 2
1. Pasture Research Centre, 1:'O. B x 5, Kongwa, Tanzania
2. Commission for Science and Technology
P.O. Box 4302, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
AFarming Systems Research team was formed in
1983 and started on-farm survey work in 1985 in
.k.pwapwa District in Central Tanzania. The area
is in the semi-arid ecozone receiving about 600 to
750 mm of rainfall annually. The agricultural
system in the area is based predominantly on
sorghum/milletlmaize cultivation with livestock
providing a major source of income. A diagnostic
survey identified the following as the major
canstralins to the livestock production systems:
poor infrastructure, unlavourable land tenure,
erratic rainfall, poor anitral nutrition, shortage of
water, animal diseases, low genetic potential of
the animals and poor mirketing structures. The
research team put together a package of
technologies for on-farm introduction (in Berege
village) and evaluation and it included improved
Jdpwapwa breed of catile, improved forage
species, intensive feed gardens, con- servation
and utilisation of crop residups, disease control
and dual-purpose legumes. A1 collaborating
farmerr purchased the improves catiae and
adopted the other technologies at varying levels,
None of the technologies were rejected
completely. The introduced cattle performed as
well a, on-station, and the following were the
means of the production coefficients: milk yield
per lactation of 300 days was 1626 kg; calving
intemal of 498 days and age at first calving was
, a:onths. The original foundation stock
comprised 20 animals; this number has
multiplied toover70headofcattle.Collaborating
farmers have benefited through additional
supplies of milk for home con- sumption and
sale. On the whole the tech- nologies proved
appropriate for th- ecozone and the
socio-economic environmenL
Introduction
Tanzania is situated in equatorial East Africa
covering a land area of 945,000 km 2 (Figure ,t 1).
Forty per cent ofthe country is under permanent
pasture while only 6% is arable land (NARM
Task Force, 1991).
Moat ef the country lies above 200 m above
sea level (asl), witl the semi-arid central plateau
lying between 1000. -id 1500 m. On average, the
country receves adequate rainfall with high
variations from year to year. The mean annual
81
rainfall ranges from below 500 mm in the drier
central part to over 2000 mm in the northeastern
and south-western highlands.
The natural vegetation across the country is
very varied due to the diversity of ciimate, soils
and land-form. The spectrum of vegetation
ranges from sparse semi-arid species to rain
forests and includes a variety of bushland and
grassland species (Pratt and Gwynne, 1977).
The human population, according to the 1988
census, was 23 million with an average
population density of about 26 persons/km and
a population growth rate estimated at 2.8% a
year. About 90% of Tanzania's total population
lives in the rural areas and is mositly engaged in
agriculture (MALD, 1988). The rural population
is distributed in 8000 villages throughout the
country and averages 250 households per village.
Agriculture is the mainstty of the economy
and contributes about.50%of ie Gross Domestic
Product (GDP) and over 80% of the recorded
export earnings. Agriculture accounts for 90% of
rural employment and, most importantly, it
provides food for the country's population
(NARM Task Force 1991).
SLe and iniportane6 of the
livestock industry
Tan;ania has the second highest livestock
population among the countries in sul>.Saharan
Africa. The country has 12.5 million head of
cattle, 6.5 million goats and 3.1 million sheep
cal, 1.
(MALD, 198 ").
Despite the high livestock population, the p, r
capita animal protein consumption in Tanzania
is 6 g/day which is far lower than the FAO
recommended level of 21 g/day (LPRI, 1983)
More than 90% of the national cattle her(' is
found in the traditional sector, in which over 9t %
of the cattle originate from the small E&1t
African Zebu (EAZ) known as the Tanzania
Shorthorn Zebu (TSZ).
The TSZ cattle are characterised by low production
coefficients compared with exotic cattle
(Bos taurus) breeds. Stokes (1976) reported the
following production coefficients of the TSZ
cattle in the traditional sec' n calving rate 45%,
calf mortality 30%, mortality of other cattle 10%,
female maturity age three years, selling age of
males seven years and average markt eff-take
13%. Despite their low production coefficients,