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

Table 2. Scbedule ofactIvitles: March 1983-June 1908.
Period
March 1983-August 1983
November 1983-October 1984
October 1984-June 1985
July 1985-November 1985
December 1985-March 1988
April 1986-June 1986
Table 2 presents a schedule and sequence of
activities that were undertaken from project
formulation until completion of the diagnostic
phase.
The detailed discussions on the survey results
have been covered in the first report of the
project (LPRI, 1986).
Before enumerating the on-farm research
phase it is worthwhile mentioning the problems
that were observed to influence livestock
production within the farming system of
Mpwapwa District.
Constraints to livestock
production
The general constraints included poor infrastructure
and poor marketing facilities; communal
land tenure; and unreliable rainfall.
These constraints were exogenous, policy and
climatic issues that were beyond the research
team's capability and mandate.
However, the recommendations accruing
from the survey were communicated to tho
relevant institutions for further processing. This
was an attempt to minimise the external factors
that would influence project implementation and
eventually affect potential project benefits.
The specific priority constraints identified to
influence livestock production in the area were:
Poor animal nutrition
The natural pestures in semi-arid central
Tanzania are characterised by very rapid
growth during the short rainy season, resulting
in early maturity and rapid deterioration in
nutritive value as the dry season sets in.
Therefore, for a period of six to nine months of
the year, feeds available to the ruminant
livestock are in short supply and whatever is
available is of very low quality,
With the existing land tenure system, the
livestock compete for the available pasture. Such
a system of grnassland utilisation leads to a high
degree of overgrazing and overstocking with the
resultant effect of land degradation. About 60%
84
Activity
Project formulation
Submission and approval of project
Ordering of equipment
Procuring local funds
Collection of information
Informal survey
Questionnaire designing
Training enumerators
Formal survey
Evaluation of formal survey and
Report writing
of the respondents in Berege indicated that
pasture shortage during the dry season was one
of the most critical issues.
Water shortage
Inadequate access to water for both human and
livestock use during the dry season was
identified as a priority problem in the area. The
animals had trek distances exceeding 5 km in
search of drinking water. Watering of cattle was
rationed to every other day or twice a week. Asa
solution to this problem, the livestock keep;-s
grew a type of water melon (Citrullusvulgc.ris)
which was harvested and stored for use as a
source o'water.
Animal diseases
Improved livestock production has been
hampered by poor health and very high
mortalities. The most predominant livestock
killer diseases were singled out as tick-borne
diseases, especially East Coast fever (ECF) and
anaplasmosis. Trypanosomiasis is endemic in
areas bordering the tsetse fly belts ofArusha and
Iringa regions (Figure 2).
Also, repeated outbreaks of viral Foot and
Mouth disease (FMD), bacterial (anthrax and
blackquarter) diseases and endoparasites
(gastro-intestinal helminths) are widely
distributed in the area (LPRI, 1986).
Low genetic potential of the indigenous
cattle
The survey revealed that the TSZ in the area
exhibited low production coefficients similar to
the average for the national herd (Stokes, 1976).
The calving rate of cows over three years old was
45%; calf mortality to yearling, 12%; mortality
of other cattle, 10%; selling age of males, seven
years; and market off-take was only 13%.
According to Getz (1974) the average
lactation length was 186 days and there was a
low lactation yield of 430 kg. A recent quick
survey undertaken in Berege village indicated
that the TSZ on average produce 0.5 to 1.5
litres/day with an average lactation length of less
than 180 days (Rushalaza and Kaliba, 1992).