Present production systems
Improved production systems
Livestock production in the subhumid zone is based almost entirely on pastoralist systems which are traditionally transhumant, but increasingly tending towards sedentarization. The zone is relatively sparsely populated and the potential for increased livestock production is considerable in spite of a number of production constraints. Due to increasing population pressure in the semi-arid areas to the north and the coastal belt to the south, immigration into the subhumid zone is substantial, leading to increasing cultivation and eventual pressure on traditional grazing land. In this situation careful development planning and prompt implementation are the only alternatives to haphazard settlement and the possibility of inappropriate or inequitable land use.
Two types of development are envisaged within the zone. On arable land, mixed farming systems can be developed with integrated livestock and crop production. In these areas, increases in productivity will be achieved through a balanced form of land use on holdings of viable size under a secure tenure system. In areas which are too dry or otherwise unsuitable for cropping, livestock production will continue to be based primarily on natural pastures, with a gradually increasing emphasis on meat production.
During the course of the Symposium, several topics were identified which require further research to provide a basis for livestock development in the subhumid zone. Although in many cases technical information is available which could lead to increased livestock production, not enough is known about present production systems or how innovations can be adapted and applied to local conditions. The research requirements discussed during the Symposium can be classified as information needed to understand existing production systems more fully and information needed to formulate strategies for improving production.
A number of specific research needs were brought out during the Symposium related to pasture resources and management. The monitoring of rangeland vegetation was called for, together with assessment of the yield potentials of major rangeland types under different management systems and grazing intensities. The major tools available to traditional livestock producers for pasture maintenance and improvement are grazing and burning, and an assessment of different grazing strategies and the use of fire at different times of year was called for. Particular attention should also he paid to the browse species which provide a valuable forage supply during the dry season when grazing is scarce.
Basic information on the livestock production system of the pastoralists is also inadequate. For one thing, only very approximate estimates have been made of the human and livestock populations. Little information is available on the size or structure of pastoralist herds and flocks, on production parameters such as birth rates, growth curves, lactation yields, disease incidence and mortality, or on management factors such as breeding strategies, seasonal movements, offtake and sales. Clearly, it is difficult to plan or carry out appropriate development programmes when so little is known about the potentials and constraints of the production systems which are to he developed. The factors behind present low levels of productivity need to be analysed, particularly the interacting roles of inadequate nutrition and the incidence of disease. The levels of protein, energy and minerals actually available to grazing animals at different seasons have only been estimated, and little is known about the relative importance of different diseases and the seasonality of disease incidence. Among cattle diseases, the importance of sub-acute trypanosomiasis needs to be investigated, particularly as a factoring leading to poor reproductive performance, and further research is needed on the epidemiology of dermatophilosis, the incidence of Theileria and the disease relationships of the most important tick species.
Information on sheep and goat production is particularly inadequate; more needs to be known about small ruminant management systems, including nutrition and health factors. In particular, the importance of peste de petits ruminants (PPR) needs to be assessed, as well as strategies for its control.
More precise information is also required on present tsetse populations so that areas may he demarcated more clearly in which control measures will be a prerequisite to expanded livestock production. Present studies of trypanotolerant livestock breeds should he continued and coordinated, evaluating the performance of these animals under different management and tsetse challenge conditions.
Questions were also raised during the Symposium concerning the effect of cattle tax on offtake rates and on the receptiveness of pastoralist producers to government development efforts. An investigation was also called for of the factors leading to the current high offtake of female cattle reported in various northern markets. Finally, the economics of present livestock production systems need to be hefter understood, including a more accurate assessment of the land, labour and capital assets available to transhumant and sedentary producers.
In formulating strategies for improving livestock production in the subhumid zone, the requirements and aspirations of the livestock producers must he assessed. The nutritional requirements of the pastoralists and the herd sizes required to meet their basic needs are only partially understood, and very little is known of the development preferences and goals of the pastoralists and small farmers of the zone. Their attitudes towards sedentarization, herd size, structure and offtake rates, arable farming and various pasture improvement strategies need to he assessed before any interventions can be contemplated in these areas.
Strategies for increasing livestock production may focus on integrated systems of animal production and arable farming, on the development of large-scale commercial ranches, on a tiered production system involving the purchase of immatures from pastoralist producers for finishing on ranches or feedlots, or on a combination of these approaches. These alternatives need to be analysed in terms of economic feasibility and social impact. In particular, the economics of beef and milk production should be compared, and the role of small ruminants evaluated.
Under all these systems, the improvement of dry-season forage is likely to be a crucial factor in efforts to increase livestock production. In addition, several management innovations need to he assessed, such as early weaning, selective breeding, night grazing and various animal health interventions.
Integrated farming systems should include pasture leys in the crop rotation to replace natural fallows. Promising grass-legume mixtures for this purpose need to be identified, along with suitable methods of establishment and management, including techniques for seeding on untitled land. Improved cropping practices also need to be evaluated, both in terms of increased yields and the output of residues suitable for animal feeding. The cost-effective use of supplementary feeds needs to be investigated, particularly focussing on possibilities for the increased use of local byproducts. Efforts to develop integrated farming systems should include strategies for increasing both milk and meat production and sales and the use of animal traction for crop production.
Specific research needs related to the development of large-scale commercial ranches in the subhumid zone include the development and testing of cost-effective methods of mechanized bush-clearing and seedbed tillage. The direct establishment of improved pastures needs to be compared in economic terms with the establishment of pastures following two or three years of cropping. The feasibility of tiered production systems also requires further investigation.
Based on the production systems to be encouraged, land-tenure and land-use policies need to be formulated which will provide a stable basis for development. The Nigerian experience with grazing reserves was discussed during the Symposium, as well as experiences in Kenya with different forms of individual and group ranching enterprises. A land-use strategy based on mixed development blocks was suggested, but further trials and investigation need to be carried out to identify the most appropriate land-tenure systems for specific areas.
