by
D. Layne Coppock
1994 - INTERNATIONAL LIVESTOCK CENTRE FOR AFRICA
PO BOX 5689, ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA
ISBN 92-9053-283-1
Correct citation: Coppock D Layne (ed.). 1994. The Borana Plateau of Southern Ethiopia: Synthesis of pastoral research, development and change, 1980-91. ILCA (International Livestock Centre for Africa), Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. 393 pp.
This electronic document has been scanned using optical character recognition (OCR) software and careful manual recorrection. Even if the quality of digitalisation is high, the FAO declines all responsibility for any discrepancies that may exist between the present document and its original printed version.
Primary contributors and collaborators
Chapter 1 - Review of rangelands and rangeland development in Ethiopia
1.4.1 Overview of livestock development projects
1.4.2 History of lowlands development and the TLDP
1.4.2.1 JIRDU
1.4.2.2 NERDU
1.4.2.3 SORDU
1.4.2.4 Infrastructural improvements1.4.3 The SERP and the Pilot Project
1.4.4 Has national range development been successful?
1.4.5 Development of the southern rangelands as coordinated by SORDU
1.4.5.1 Range management
1.4.5.2 Water development strategy
1.4.5.3 Livestock health
1.4.5.4 Roads
1.4.5.5 Ranch development
1.4.5.6 Smaliholder fattening programme
1.4.5.7 Training
1.4.5.8 Trials and studies1.4.6 Collaboration among research and development institutions in the southern rangelands
1.4.7 Interaction between research and development and project impact
Chapter 2 - Introduction to the Borana Plateau: Natural resources and pastoral society
2.4.1 Natural resources of the Central Borana plateau
2.4.1.1 Geology
2.4.1.2 Landscape
2.4.1.3 Soils
2.4.1.4 Climate, primary production and carrying capacity
2.4.1.5 Native vegetation
2.4.1.6 Native fauna
2.4.1.7 Water resources2.4.2 Introduction to Borana history and social organization
2.4.2.1 History
2.4.2.2 Some cultural and organisational features
Chapter 3 - Vegetation dynamics and resource use
3.2.1 Ecology and land-use map
3.2.2 Long-term vegetation change
3.2.3 Short-term vegetation change
3.2.3.1 Effects of excluding livestock
3.2.3.2 Interactions among woody and herbaceous plants3.2.4 Population ecology of woody species
3.2.5 Use of native vegetation
3.2.5.1 Livestock food habits
3.2.5.2 Household use of plants and pastoral perceptions of range trend
3.3.1 Ecological map and land use
3.3.2 Long-term vegetation change
3.3.2.1 Central semi-arid regions
3.3.2.2 Contrasts of lower and upper semi-arid regions3.3.3 Short-term vegetation change
3.3.3.1 Effects of excluding livestock
3.3.3.2 Interactions among woody and herbaceous plants3.3.4 population ecology of woody species
3.3.5 Use of native vegetation
3.3.5.1 Livestock food habits
3.3.5.2 Household use of plants and pastoral perceptions of range trend
3.4.1 Ecology and land use
3.4.2 Environmental change
3.4.2.1 Review of ancillary work in Borana
3.4.2.2 Hypothesised cycle of grazing-induced vegetation dynamics
3.4.2.3 Short-term grazing effects
3.4.2.4 Population ecology of woody species
Chapter 4 - Borana household economy
4.2.1 Household economy in average rainfall years
4.2.2 Labour
4.2.3 Livestock marketing
4.2.4 Dairy processing and marketing
4.2.5 Dairy marketing and calf management
4.2.6 Grain cultivation
4.3.1 General household structure and economy in average rainfall years
4.3.2 The encampment and the role of cooperative labour
4.3.3 The labour of married women
4.3.4 Livestock marketing
4.3.4.1 Suppliers
4.3.4.2 Buyers
4.3.4.3 Composition of animals purchased
4.3.4.4 Other features of livestock market supply
4.3.4.5 Traders
4.3.4.6 Prices
4.3.4.7 Marketing attitudes4.3.5 Dairy processing and marketing
4.3.5.1 Milk processing procedures
4.3.5.2 Seasonality and milk allocation for processing
4.3.5.3 Effects of distance to market, wealth and season on dairy marketing
4.3.5.4 Dairy marketing, human welfare and calf management
4.4.1 General aspects of household economy
4.4.2 Economic comparisons among pastoral systems
4.4.3 Livestock supply to markets
4.4.4 Traditional marketing rationale
4.4.5 Marketing efficiency
4.4.6 Market evolution
4.4.7 Productivity comparisons among systems
4.4.8 Labour and the encampment
4.4.9 Milk processing
4.4.10 Dairy marketing
4.4.10.1 Dairy marketing and welfare of humans and calves
4.4.10.2 Dairy marketing in a wider perspective
Chapter 5 - Livestock husbandry and production
5.2.1 Cattle production
5.2.2 Water restriction and cattle productivity
5.2.3 Other production and management studies
5.2.4 Livestock health
5.3.1 General aspects of cattle management
5.3.2 Calf growth and milk offtake
5.3.3 Cattle production and pastoral wealth
5.3.4 Water restriction and cattle productivity
5.3.4.1 Effects on calves
5.3.4.2 Effects on cows
5.3.4.3 Intake of water, feed and milk5.3.5 Weight gain patterns for bulls and steers on a ranch
5.3.6 Cattle health and sources of mortality
5.3.7 Ancillary livestock
5.3.7.1 Sheep and goats
5.3.7.2 Camels
5.3.7.3 Other livestock
5.4.1 Cattle management
5.4.2 Cattle production
5.4.3 Cattle mortality and health
5.4.4 Cattle productivity and watering frequency
5.4.5 Cattle growth and implications for breed persistence
5.4.6 Small ruminants
5.4.7 Camels and donkeys
Chapter 6 - Effects of drought and traditional tactics for drought mitigation
6.2.1 Effects of drought in the lower semi-arid zone
6.2.2 Effects of drought in the upper semi-arid zone
6.2.3 Assessment of effects of the 1990-91 drought
6.3.1 Drought effects in the lower semi-arid zone
6.3.1.1 Livestock dispersal and herd composition
6.3.1.2 Cattle productivity
6.3.1.3 Small ruminant productivity
6.3.1.4 Human diet and mortality
6.3.1.5 Household economy
6.3.1.6 Post-drought recovery of cows6.3.2 Drought effects in the upper semi-arid zone
6.4.1 Drought impacts on livestock
6.4.2 Wealth effects on herd losses
6.4.3 Decline in terms of trade
6.4.4 Traditional drought-mitigation tactics
6.4.5. Equilibrial versus non-equilibrial population dynamics
Chapter 7 - Development-intervention concepts
7.1.1 Issues in pastoral development
7.1.2 A development philosophy appropriate for the Boran
7.1.3 Review of pastoral systems dynamics and past interventions
7.2.1 Empirical modeling
7.2.2 Anticipated long-term trends
7.2.2.1 Cultivation
7.2.2.2 Land annexation
7.2.2.3 Labour availability
7.2.2.4 Wealth stratification
7.2.2.5 Livestock and dairy marketing and herd diversification
7.2.2.6 Cattle herd composition
7.2.2.7 Miscellaneous household activities
7.2.2.8 Range ecology
7.2.2.9 Social aspects7.2.3 Anticipated short-term cycles
7.2.3.1 Range ecology
7.2.3.2 Livestock productivity
7.2.3.3 Cattle herd composition
7.2.3.4 Marketing of livestock products
7.2.3.5 Land tenure
7.3.1 Range management and improvements
7.3.1.1 Water-development activities
7.3.1.2 Grazing management
7.3.1.3 Forage improvements
7.3.1.4 Site reclamation7.3.2 Land-use policy and agronomic interventions
7.3.3 Animal production strategies
7.3.3.1 Mature cattle
7.3.3.2 Camels, donkeys and small ruminants
7.3.3.3 Dairy processing and marketing
7.3.3.4 The calf: Prospects for growth acceleration
7.3.3.5 Calf mortality mitigation
7.3.3.6 Cattle marketing
7.3.3.7 Mitigation of drought impact
Chapter 8 - Synthesis and conclusions
8.2.1 Future role of the lowlands in the national economy
8.2.2 Have past pastoral development projects succeeded in the southern rangelands?
8.2.3 A development strategy for the southern rangelands
8.2.3.1 What if nothing is done?
8.2.3.2 Overview of strategy
8.2.3.3 Interventions to lessen negative effects of the long-term trend
8.2.3.4 Impact in the interdrought cycle
8.2.3.5 Intervention impact in the interdrought cycle
8.3.1. System monitoring
8.3.2 Research priorities
8.3.3 Other research implications
Table A1. Rainfall on a monthly end annual basis for 10 sites in the SORDU sub-project area for the period 1980-89.
Table A2. Per cent probabilities of monthly rainfall exceeding 60 mm for six stations in southern Ethiopia as derived from data collected during 1957-1981.
Table A3. Number of rainy days and total rainfall on a 10-day basis during the long rainy season for 10 sites in the SORDU sub-project area during 1980-89.
Table A4. Number of rainy days and total rainfall on a 10-day basis during the short rainy season for 10 sites in the SORDU sub-project area during 1980-89.
Table A5. Air temperature on a monthly and annual basis for seven sites in the SORDU sub-project area during 1980-89.
Table A6. Altitudinal distribution of 55 important plant species in the SORDU sub-project area.
Table A7. Soil colour distribution for sites containing 55 important plant species in the SORDU sub-project area.
Table A8. Slope distribution of 55 important plans species in the SORDU sub-project area.
Table A9. Vegetation structure distribution for 55 important plant species in the SORDU sub-project area.
Table A10. Soil reactivity for sites containing 55 important plant species in the SORDU sub-project area.
Table B1. Distribution of six agro-ecological zones within 29 madda or madda groups in the southern rangelands.
Table B2. Per cent average basal cover for herbaceous (grass, legume and forte) and small shrub. vegetation on and off protected calf pastures (kalo) in the southern rangelands.
Table B3. Average per cent feeding time (±SE) spent on various browse species by camels in the Beke Pond region of the southern rangelands during four seasons in 1985-86.
Table B4. Average percent feeding time (±SE) spent on various browse species by goats at the Beke Pond region of the southern rangelands during four seasons in 1985-86.
Table B5. Average per cent feeding time (±SE) spent on various browse species by sheep in the Beke Pond region of the southern rangelands during four seasons in 1985-86.
Table B6. Summary of population trend, diet preference for livestock and abundance of browse species in the Beke Pond area of the southern rangelands.
Table B7. Scientific and vernacular name, growth form, importance value and traditional household uses of native plants in the southern rangelands.
Table B8. Occurrence of apparently encroaching woody species on the central Borana Plateau as recorded in a survey of 801 field sites in 1989.
Table B9. Principal grass and shrub forages for hand-reared and grazing calves curing dry seasons of average rainfall, dry and drought years in the southern rangelands as ranked by 32 Borana herd owners in 1988.
Ecological map of south-western Borana
1. Subhumid zone
2. Upper semi-arid zone
3. Lower semi-arid zone on basement-complex substrates
4. Semi-arid zone on mixed soils
5. Arid environments
6. Bottomlands
Table D1. Background information on 49 Borana households monitored in nine regions in the southern rangelands throughout the period duly 1981 to July 1983.
Table D2. Reported importance rankings and total hours per week for venous work activities of Borana women in Dubluk and Did Hara madda during the long rainy season.
Table D3. Reported importance rankings and total hours per week for venous work activities of Borana women in Dubluk and Did Hara madda during the warm dry season.
Table E1. Purchase origin, mean entry and exit weights and average total live-weight gain for male cattle processed at Sarite ranch during 1980-81.
Table E2. Per cent incidence of major causes of mortality among adult cattle and calves in an average rainfall year in the southern rangelands during 1976-1987.
Table E3. Per cent incidence of major causes of mortality among adult cattle and calves in a dry rainfall year in the southern rangelands during 1976-87.
Table E4. Per cent incidence of major causes of mortality among adult cattle and calves in a drought year in the Southern rangelands during 1983-84.
Table F1. Livestock census results from the SORDU sub-project area conducted during February and March, 1987.
Table G1. Actual and projected cattle numbers, percentage and numbers of mature cows, annual milk production of the cattle herd and annual estimates of the human population and its energy requirements and milk-energy deficits, on the central Borana Plateau during 1959 and 1982-2006.
Table G2. Exotic and indigenous forage species and some possible establishment locations in the southern rangelands.
Table G3. Effects of legume, harvest dates and standing crop or regrowth on crude-protein (CP) concentration, on a dry-matter basis for various plant parts at Dembel Wachu ranch in the southern rangelands during 1987.
Table G4. Effects of legume, harvest date and standing crop or regrowth on dry-matter digestibility of various plant parts at Dembel Wachu ranch in the southern rangelands during 1987.
Table G5. Hay-making statistics for Borana households in the southern rangelands during May and June 1990.
Table G6. Time budgets (%) of activities forgone for three priority persons observed in 62 Borana households involved in hay-making during May through June 1990.
Table G7. Diet intake (dry-matter basis), water intake and growth for Boran calves under venous feeding treatments at Dembel Wachu ranch in the southern rangelands during 1990.
Table G8. Comparative growth rates (g/head/day) and sample size per treatment (N) for livestock Under supplementation with isonitrogenous amounts of lucerne hay (Medicago sativa), cowpea hay (Vigna unguiculata), or Acacia materials in feeding trials conducted at Dembel Wachu ranch and Debre Zeit during 1987-88.
Table G9. Per cent mortality (and sample size) of Acacia mellifera and Acacia bussed from prescribed burning at two sites on Wollenso Ranch in the southern rangelands in 1989.
Table G10. Per cent Acacia drepanolobium trees in two size classes that were apparently killed due to venous treatments in the southern rangelands during August 1989.
Table G11. Maize grain yield (kg/ha) as affected by species of intercropped legume and maize planting density (no/ha) at Dembel Wachu ranch in the southern rangelands in 1987.
Table G12. Milk processing statistics for butter-making by Borana women using traditional methods.
Table G13. Comparative household monetary income and food-energy yields for three feeding-management strategies for a Borana family managing an eight-cow breeding herd in the southern rangelands.
Table G14. Effects of treatments conducted on pursing carves on absolute weighs gain (kg) from birth to weaning and on live weight (kg), shoulder height (cm) and weight-to-height ratio at weaning for heifers in the southern rangelands in 1986-87.
Table G15. Effects of treatments conducted on nursing calves on time to puberty (days), average daily gain (g/day), absolute gain (kg) from birth to puberty and on live weight (kg) and shoulder height (cm) at puberty for heifers in the southern rangelands, 1986-90.