Grasslands of the World.pdf - Disasters and Conflicts - UNEP

Grasslands of South Africa 109
TABLE 3.9
Plants used for fodder during exceptional circumstances .
Botanical name Common name Uses
Agave americana American aloe Drought fodder in arid and semi- arid regions
Anthephora pubescens Wool grass Spring and summer grazing
Atriplex mueleri Australian saltbush Drought fodder
Atriplex nummalaria Old Man Saltbush Drought fodder
Atriplex semibaccata Creeping saltbush Drought fodder
Cenchrus ciliaris Blue buffalo grass Tufted perennial; spring, summer and autumn grazing
Opuntia spp. Spineless cactus Drought fodder
Opuntia ficus-indica Prickly pear Drought fodder
Vigna unguiculata Cowpea Undersowing maize, millet or sorghum
to import fodder in extreme drought conditions. In the arid and semi -arid
regions, farmers are encouraged to plant suitable drought-tolerant fodder crops
(Table 3.9). Since 1994, there have been no magisterial districts declared as
drought stricken, and so these new policies have not been tested.
CONSTRAINTS TO PASTURE AND FODDER PRODUCTION AND
IMPROVEMENT
Low and uncertain rainfall throughout most of the country are the main
constraints to the productivity of natural pastures and to the establishment
of exotic pasture crops . Concern about exotics becoming problematic limits
the introduction and testing of hardy species considered suited to the
environmental and utilization rigours of the communal areas (e.g. Leucaena
spp. and Lespedeza sericea ). The availability and price of seeds for fodder or
for pasture improvement are major constraints to communal area farmers.
Considerable portions of the savannah vegetation on the freehold farms are
severely bush infested, but the cost of thinning or clearing generally outweighs
the benefits in terms of increased carrying capacity . Open access to grazing ,
at least within communities , in the communal areas necessitates broad
collective agreement and cooperation in any pasture improvement venture
– something most communities, socially fragmented as they are, seem unable
to attain. Traditionally, communal area farmers do not retain exclusive use of
their unfenced croplands for their own livestock after harvest, which blocks
opportunities and incentives for undersowing or alley cropping.
Commercial ranchers find it increasingly difficult to maintain production in
the western and central regions, which receive low and uncertain rainfall and
where there are increases in undesirable woody species. Low profit margins and
higher production costs discourage many landowners from maintaining commercial
herds. There has been a decline in sheep and wool production from the
Nama-karoo region (Dean and MacDonald, 1994), which has been attributed to
a decline in resource condition . There appears to be an increase in the number
of uninhabited freehold farms in the arid and semi -arid regions, suggesting that
farms are being abandoned or managed as larger units. Reflecting de-agrariani-