The nature of traditional livestock production systems
The current data set
Major problems to improved productivity
Future research
Until recently traditional systems of livestock production have not been subjected to detailed study and analysis. Little, therefore, has been known of their productivity and problems. But this lack of knowledge has not prevented a strong corpus of opinion being propounded.
Such opinion considers, regardless of the domestic species in question, that:
· Indigenous African livestock types are of inherently poor genetic make-up;
· Nutrition is inadequate;
· Disease is a major problem;
· There is a lack of a suitable marketing infrastructure.
The proposed solutions to these constraints are, equally, of a depressing similarity:
· Importation of supposedly genetically superior stock to up-grade or replace the native one;· Provision of concentrate feedstuffs;
· Mass vaccination; and
· Creation of a modern marketing system that is usually by inference - if not stated explicitly - state-controlled and state-run.
These hypothetical problems and solutions fail to take account of the nature and role of traditional livestock husbandry in a mixed fanning system. Domestic animals in these agropastoral systems are at best an adjunct to subsistence or cash crop production. Owners are able to devote only a part of their labour to them and, across households, the amount of time given and the skill provided to stock management vary widely.
Sweeping solutions applied to all species are not likely to succeed and will not make the best use of resources, whether these be financial or natural and whether they be internal or external.
The studies analysed and reported here are unique in semi-arid Africa. They provide data over a period of 6 years from two agropastoral subsystems and allow direct comparison of the three major species of domestic ruminants under the same environmental and management conditions. The results clearly demonstrate the superiority of both species of small ruminants over cattle in terms of meat production (Tables 31 and 55). The complementarily of the species is evident in terms of their contribution to human nutrition (Figure 39). The markedly seasonal nature of the reproductive process in cattle (Figure 29) and its inefficiency (Table 22) are highlighted and contrasted with the much less seasonal (Figure 44) and far more rapid (Figure 42, Table 38) process in both goats and sheep. The dependence of cattle on the limited grazing resources results, in the short term, in massive fluctuations in weight within a year (Figures 34 and 35) and over the long term has resulted in an alarming reduction in mature body size (Figure 36, Table 28). Goats, and even sheep, with more eclectic dietary habits, are less subject to both seasonal (Figure 48, Table 48) and long-term (Figure 50, Table 49) weight changes. In contrast to the superior efficiency of small ruminants in most of the observed parameters, their early death rate (Table 51) is much higher than that of cattle (Figure 37).
These studies did not, unfortunately, continue into the dry season of 1984/1985 which followed the disastrous rainfall years of 1983 and 1984. Little that is objective can therefore be said about response to really severe drought conditions but there is considerable circumstantial evidence, obtained from visits to the herds and flocks and through discussions with the owners, that goats and sheep suffered less severely than cattle.
The results reported here have enabled the identification of the principal factors mitigating against improved productivity. In cattle these problems are:
· Poor reproductive performance as reflected in late age at first calving and long intervals between calves; and· Nutritional stress, both seasonally and in the long term, leading to massive fluctuations in weight in both growing and mature cattle and overall slow growth rates which contribute to delayed sexual maturity in females and to advanced ages at which males are capable of providing draught power and being fit for slaughter.
In small ruminants the major problems are:
· High levels of preweaning mortality due to a variety of interacting causes; and· Continued relatively high levels of mortality in sub-adult and mature stock due mainly to a seasonally recurring complex of respiratory diseases.
In both cattle and small ruminants, the differences in productivity between herds and flocks with access to the theoretically same resources indicate that the individual management ability of owners or herders could be a major constraint.
With the exception of veterinary inputs, solutions to the identified constraints should be provided, as far as is feasible, from within the existing system. With this proviso in mind, future research should concentrate on:
· Identifying management and/or socioeconomic factors leading to the observed differences in flock productivity;· Isolating the causes of the poor reproductive performance by cattle, which are probably nutritionally rather than physiologically or disease related;
· Overcoming the severe nutritional crisis in cattle by encouraging the production of fodder and forage crops, including browse species, from the agricultural component of the system, although in view of the shortfall in total feed availability it is probable that specific target groups will need to be identified and accorded priority;
· Determining the specific causes (management, nutrition, health) of preweaning mortality in lambs and kids; and
· Developing a package of prophylactic and curative veterinary measures based on local antigens to the respiratory disease complex.
