Wholesale butchers' procurement and slaughter practices

(i) Characteristics and seasonality of cattle slaughter at Mokolo

14. Detailed information was obtained from wholesale butchers at weekly markets in Mokolo, Soulede and Ziver about cattle slaughter over a seven month period in 1980-81 (see Table 1). Mokolo is the major urban market and Soulede and Ziver are nearby rural markets. Cattle carcasses were weighed weekly at Mokolo on the busiest market day (Wednesday), and monthly subtotals are shown in Table 2 for the period September 1980-March 1981.

15. Several of the characteristics of cattle slaughter at Mokolo are quite striking. First, 65% of all the cattle slaughtered at Mokolo were females, principally old cows. These cull cows are acquired at the lowest possible price per kilogram, and the quality of their beef is inferior to stall-fed bulls. Second, it is surprising to note that the Mokolo butchers slaughtered only 34 stall-fed cattle (4.3% of 795 head), given the prevalence of stall-feeding by farmers in the villages around Mokolo. Ninety-five percent of all cattle slaughtered at Mokolo were range-fed animals; 83% were acquired in another region, the Diamare Plains, and at such markets as Gazawa, and Meme. Third, cattle attain their maximum carcass weights and hence liveweights from October through December, after having grazed on the fresh, protein-rich grasses during the rainy season and while pasture is still relatively abundant. Beginning in January carcass weights fall off steadily until June, reaching annual lows when pasture is extremely scarce.^4/

16. A final striking characteristic is that cattle prices per kilogram (carcass weight plus offals) are lowest in October and November and rise progressively during the dry season, beginning in December.^5/ The factors responsible for this trend are that: a) cattle liveweights and carcass weights decline steadily during the dry season; b) slaughter cattle supply contracts in the area around Mokolo and in the cattle markets of the Diamare Plains as the dry season progresses; and c) demand for beef remains relatively strong during the most of the dry season in rural areas.^6/ Rural butchers also compete with town butchers for the limited supply of locally available slaughter cattle, bidding up prices in the process.

Table 1: Selected characteristics of cattle slaughtered at one urban and two rural markets in the MANDARA MOUNTAINS, September, 1980-March 1981

Market	No. of Cattle Slaughtered	No. of Males	No. of Females	No. of Stall-Fed Cattle	No. of Oxen	No. of Range-Fed Cattle	No. of Cattle Bought in Diamare Plains Markets	No. of Cattlea Acquired Locally	Average Age of Cattle Slaughtered (Years)	Acquisition Price (FCFA)		Weight of Four Quarters (Kg.)		Economically Useable Carcass Weightb (Kg.)		Price Paid Per Kg. Carcass Weightc (FCFA)
										Mean	S.D.	Mean	S.D.	Mean	S.D.	Mean	S.D.
Soulede	37	27	10	11	2	24	2	35	4.2	42,715	16.519	107.9	36.2	133.6	45.4	317	53
Ziver	39	31	8	21	2	15	12	27	5.1	49.577	10.336
Mokolod	220	71	141	9	a	211	182	38	5.3	40.443	10.959	95.6	27.2	126.0	32.9	323	53
Mokoloe	575	195	379	25	3	544	492	93	0.1	41.505	10.211
Totalf	871	325	530	85	7	795	577	194	5.8	41.054	11.453
Totalg	257	98	151	29	2	235	183	74	5.2	40.774	12.238	98.0	28.7	127.5	34.0	322	53

Source: Survey of butchering and retailing.

^a Local acquisition is defined as purchase within a 20 kilometer radius of the market.
^b The economically useable carcass weight is the four quarters plus edible offals.
^c This in not a weighted mean. Each observation is equally weighted.
^d This category includes only cattle slaughtered on market day (Wednesday) in Mokolo.
^e This category includes cattle slaughtered on days other than market day in Mokolo.
^f These figures are totals for the entire sample.
^g These figures are a subtotal of the entire sample. Carcass weights and therefore the price paid par kg. were obtained only for cattle slaughtered at Soulede and at Mokolo on market day consisting of 257 (37 + 220) head.

Table 2: Cattle slaughter at Mokolo on the day of the large market, September 1980-March 1981

Source: Survey of butchering and retailing.

(ii) Sources of urban slaughter cattle supply

17. The butchers at Mokolo, Mora and Koza, the three principal towns of the Mandara Mountains region, depend heavily on the cattle markets of the Diamare Plains for their supply of slaughter cattle. These urban butchers procured about 75%, or 2,485 of the 3,313 cattle they slaughtered in 1980, in the markets of the Diamare Plains. It is also estimated that approximately 1,100 head of the 2,000 cattle slaughtered in regional towns other than Mokolo, Mora and Koza were procured in the Diamare Plains. Summing across the two subgroups, approximately 5,300 head of cattle were slaughtered by urban butchers in the towns of the Mandara Mountains region in 1980, of which 3,580 head or about two-thirds were acquired in the markets of the Diamare Plains (see Table 3). The remaining third was obtained from the Mandara Mountains regional extensive herd and from producers of stall-fed cattle. Nearly 1,500 head were taken off the regional extensive herd for slaughter by urban butchers, but only 230 or 4.3% of the 5,300 head slaughtered in towns were stall-fed animals. In contrast to urban butchers, rural butchers procure far larger numbers of stall-fed cattle for slaughter (1,595 of which 590 on the hoof and 1,005 "on the rail"). Cattle and beef flows into, within and out of the Mandara Mountains region are depicted in Figure 2.