Table 9. Tabulated constraints to dairy cattle in Cameroon
	Constraints	Source
Nutrition	1.   Traditional grasses are of low nutritive value and demand adequate supplementation; in February, native Sporobolus africanus only contains 4.5 % crude protein on a dry matter basis.	Njoya et al., 1999
	2.  There is inadequate pasture management. Some areas are densely populated, leading to insufficient grazing land. Consequently many dairy farmers endeavour to cultivate grass.
Breeding and Management	1.  Unavailability of good dairy stock. Many people wish to get involved in dairy business but either they do not find dairy heifers for purchase or more often they are very expensive to be bought on cash. Some NGOs give loans to farmers in this line, to be paid in kind with a heifer or a bull of the same breeds 3 years later.	HPI, 1999
	2.   There is a long calving to conception period with a mean of ( 185 ± 105 days) indicating a great need of increasing reproductive performance on farms.	Njoya et al., 1999
	3.   In improved systems (semi intensive and intensive) there are problems with heat detection and low A.I. success rates.
Health	1.   Ticks and tick-borne diseases are an obstacle to the introduction of exotic dairy breeds. They show a high susceptibility to Babesiosis, heartwater and dermatophilosis. Attempts to control ticks with acaricides have been proposed.	Mbah, 1982 a, b ;Merlin et al., 1986 ; Merlin 1987 Merlin et al., 1987 ; Bayemi, 1991 Ndi et al., 1991 ; Douffissa, 1993 Staschurski, 1993 ; Ndi et al., 1998
	2.  Brucellosis	Martrenchar et al., 1995
	3.    Haemorrhagic septicaemia	Martrenchar and Njanpop, 1994
	4.  Gastrointestinal parasites: Toxocara, Strongyloides, Coccidia Trichuris, Moniezia, Fasciola and paramphistomes. Deworming with anthelmintic has been recommended	Chollet et al., 1994
	5.  Foot and mouth disease is common.	Ekue et al., 1990 Bronsvoort et al., 2002
	6. There are inadequate veterinary inputs by dairy farmers. Most of them keep their animals indoors, because of the fear of high tick load and worm loads. Exotic breeds though highly performing are very susceptible to parasites and heat stress with very high mortality rates.	Mbanya et al., 1995
	7. Because of high costs of conventional veterinary medicine. Many farmers use ethno veterinary medicine	Nfi et al., 2001
Processing   Marketing   Consumption	1.  Limited quantity of  milk for processing and consumption in  urban areas	HPI, 1999
	2.  Farmers who are far from urban centres cannot easily sell their milk. Consequently, cows are milked once day to sustain the family needs. At farm level, there are no cooling or storage facilities for fresh milk as well as a lack of processing facilities and technical know-how. In peri urban areas there is no collection of evening milk for processing. Therefore, the milk is mainly consumed by family and fed to pet animals and calves.	HPI, 1999   Kameni et al., 1999