A survey on population, distribution, management and utilisation of indigenous Tswana pigs in Southern Botswana - S.J. Nsoso^[32], S. Mosweu^[33], L. Malela^[34] & B. Podisi^[35]

Summary

Indigenous Tswana pigs are mostly found in Southern Botswana. There is concern that the breed may become extinct due to the low usage of the breed and the lack of implementation of a comprehensive conservation strategy. The objectives of this study were to identify places where indigenous Tswana pigs are kept in Gaborone Agricultural Region and document the numbers, distribution, management and utilisation of these pigs. A formal questionnaire was administered to all indigenous pig farmers who could be identified. The data was analysed using procedure frequency in Statistical System Analysis. A total of 51 indigenous pig farmers were interviewed, of these 71%, 16% and 14% were in Southeast, Kgatleng and Kweneng districts respectively. Only one farmer kept crossbreeds with the majority keeping pure indigenous Tswana. A total of 124 sows, 23 boars, 32 castrates and 211piglets were counted in this region. All the pigs were kept under the communal system. None of the farmers surveyed kept records and they exhibited limited knowledge of pig farming and improved management. Pigs were kept for home consumption with very few sold, given out as gifts or loaned out. Pig fat was used as a by-product to make soap and a lubricant in traditional leather rope making. The farmers’ perception of indigenous pigs is good; they claim that the pigs posses traits of economic importance such as high heat and drought tolerance, which are of great significance in the harsh climatic conditions of Botswana. There is a need to undertake conservation efforts for this breed given that it survives and reproduces under harsh climatic conditions and sub-standard management. More research and further action is required to increase the production of this breed.

Resumen

La raza porcina indígena Tswana se encuentra mayormente en la región sur de Botswana. Se cree que esta raza pueda extinguirse debido a la falta de utilización y al no existir un programa claro de estrategia de conservación. Los objetivos de este estudio fueron identificar los lugares en los que la raza Tswana se encuentra en la zona agrícola de Gaborono y documentar el número, distribución, manejo y utilización de estos cerdos. Se distribuyó un cuestionario a todos los ganaderos que se pudieron identificar y que poseen estos animales. Se analizaron los datos utilizando la procedura de frecuencia de SSA. Un total de 51ganaderos fueron entrevistados y de estos 71%, 16% y 14% se encontraban en la zona sureste de Kgatlen y Kweneng, respectivamente. Solo un ganadero mantenía los cruces en mayoría con la raza pura indígena Tswana. Un total de 124 cerdas, 23machos, y 32 castrados y 211 lechones fueron censados en esta región. Todos los cerdos se criaban en condiciones comunales y ninguno de los ganaderos entrevistados mantenía un control; también mostraron pocos conocimientos sobre el manejo y mejora de cerdos. Los animales se crían para consumo casero con escasos entrantes y a veces sirven como regalo o préstamo. La grasa del cerdo se utiliza como sub-producto para hacer jabón y como lubrificante en la fabricación de cuero. La percepción por parte de los ganaderos sobre esta raza es buena, manifestaron que esta raza posee rasgos económicos importantes tales como tolerancia a la sequía y altas temperaturas, lo cual resulta de gran ayuda en las condiciones climáticas de Botswana. Existe la necesidad de llevar a cabo un programa de conservación teniendo en cuenta la capacidad de sobrevivencia y reproducción en condiciones climáticas y de manejo extremas. Se necesitará mayor investigación y acciones para incrementar la producción de esta raza.

Key words: Indigenous Tswana pigs, Utilisation, Management, Data analysis.

Introduction

According to the latest Botswana Agricultural Survey (1999), there are approximately 9000 pigs in the country. The majority (94%) of these pigs were found in Gaborone Agricultural Region, which is in Southern Botswana. As observed by Podisi (2001) there is no reliable information on indigenous Tswana pigs, however concerns have been raised about their declining numbers in Southern Botswana. No significant work has been done on the performance of Tswana pigs despite the fact that they continue to reproduce under poor management in the harsh climate of Botswana. Action is needed to conserve this breed and identify alternate ways of exploiting this adapted genetic material. Therefore, the objectives of this study were to:

á Identify places where indigenous Tswana pigs are kept in Gaborone Agricultural Region
á Document the numbers, distribution, management and utilisation of Tswana pigs

Materials and Methods

Data collection was through a formal questionnaire administered by one of the authors. Information was collected from all identified pig farmers. The housing of pigs and their condition were noted during these visits. The survey was conducted between July 2001 and September 2001.

Data analysis

The data was analysed using procedure frequency in Statistical System Analysis (SAS, 1999-2000).

Results and Discussion

A total of 51 farmers were interviewed in three districts of Kgatleng, Kweneng and South East. All kept pigs under traditional management systems characterised by low inputs coupled with poor management. As indicated in table 1, most of the pig farmers were male, married and aged (older than 45years) with predominantly primary or no education at all. Their sources of income were varied with the predominant sources being salary/wages and the sale of livestock. The majority of these farmers were in Southeast Botswana at a village called Ramotswa, which is inhabited mainly by the Balete tribe. Lack of younger farmers participating in pig farming is of concern since they are the farmers of the future who would ensure the survival of this adapted breed. To ensure that this breed does not become extinct there is need to conserve it using both in situ and ex situ methods. There is an urgent need to assess the production potential of this breed both as a pure breed and in crossbreeding work. Following Ramsay et al. (2000) and Jaume and Alfonso (2000), the concept of adding value to indigenous breeds conservation through promotion and utilisation of unique products and traits should be applied to this breed. This would ensure its survival because farmers would be more willing to conserve a breed that has present value or perceived future value.

Table 1. Demographic parameters of indigenous pig farmers surveyed in Gaborone Agricultural Region.

Table 2 shows that managers of pig farms are either the owner or male/female relatives with very little outside labour utilised. This in part reflects that farming with indigenous pigs is at most done on a subsistence level and occasionally as a hobby, like most farm enterprises in Botswana. The data suggests that women play a significant and dominant role in caring for the pigs as part of the family labour. Time spent on feeding and managing pigs is between 1 and 7 hours per day with most farmers devoting 7 hours per day (Table 6), where the majority of farmers do not own other livestock species. This therefore reflects farmers with a generally low resource base and there is need for scientists and extension workers in conjunction with farmers to carry out research to benefit these farmers whose main livestock species is pigs.

Table 2. Management of indigenous pigs in the survey area.

Farmers buy in most of the pig feeds, which are based on sorghum bran. The farmers or family members do the feeding in most cases once or twice a day. The water source is tap water. Most pigs are not housed and those that are only housed occasionally. No records are kept and most farmers do not have any information on pig diseases (Table2). This is despite the fact that the majority of these pigs are scavenging and as such are prone to diseases (Eusebio, 1988). As pointed out by Nsoso et al. (2000) diseases and parasites are perhaps one of the major factors limiting pig production in Botswana and controlled experiments are urgently required on the issue. The majority of the farmers do not seek any advice on pig management and production (Table 2), despite the fact that the government of Botswana provides free outreach services to farmers through trained agricultural personnel who reside within the farmers’locality. It is not therefore easy to explain why the majority of farmers do not seek advice on production and diseases from outreach agents, but the fact that pig farming is treated as a hobby and not as a business could be a contributing factor. Tables 3 and 4 further provide evidence to support this hypothesis because the number of pigs sold per farm is very low and the selling price is very variable. For other livestock species prices are high and fairly standard.

Table 3. Source of pigs, breeds of and pig breeding in the surveyed area.

Table 4. Pig business

Table 5. Perception of Tswana pigs by farmers.

Most farmers surveyed bought their foundation stocks, with a few having been given or inherited them. The buying of livestock is popular in Botswana as a means of diversifying the income base and as a means of providing insurance against droughts and other natural catastrophes. As shown on table 6, pig farmers also owned other livestock species such as poultry, cattle, sheep and goats. As highlighted by Nsoso and Madimabe (1999) diverse livestock products allow for flexibility and a continuous supply of income, which ensures that farmers would continue with their business.

The majority of pigs kept in communal farming systems were the indigenous Tswana with only one farmer keeping crossbreeds (Table 3). As lamented by Senyatso and Masilo (1996) and Nsoso and Morake (1999) crossbreeding has some negative effects for communal farmers for a number of reasons foremost being the fact that communal areas are not fenced. As a result animals freely mix and mating is not controlled, which means crossbreeding would not benefit farmers since it needs to be directional. Crossbreeds also require supplementary feeding and good management, which according to table 2 farmers are not routinely carrying out, hence production would be lower than for pure indigenous breeds, which survive by scavenging. The reasons for keeping pure Tswana pigs are diverse, the predominant ones being the fact that farmers are used to keeping them, they require minimal care, are locally available and cheap to keep (Table 3). Such attributes would ensure preservation of the breed but more concerted efforts are required to conserve this breed to ensure that crossbreeding does not threaten its existence given that the pigs are farmed under communal farming systems. One factor, which might have contributed to the breed remaining pure could be due to the fact that most of the exotic breeds are found in commercial enterprises where they are housed and have reduced chances of mating with the scavenging indigenous pigs.

Table 6. Other livestock species kept by pig farmers.

Figure 1. Indigenous pigs in Ramotswa village reared under extensive management. Note the black colour dominates.

Figure 2. Indigenous Tswana pigs in their environment, with piglets.

A total of 124 sows, 23 boars, 32 castrates and 211 piglets of various ages were identified in the study. The majority of households kept one sow with only three households keeping more than 10 sows (Table 3). As is the case with communal farming generally in Botswana, the majority of households did not keep boars. Since animals freely mix during grazing, farmers know that boars belonging to other farmers will mate their sows when they are on heat. This is also the practice in communal sheep farming where Nsoso and Madimabe (2000) reported that some communal farmers do not keep rams because neighbors’ rams will serve their ewes on heat during grazing. Given that most of the indigenous pigs are found in the Gaborone region, the above figures suggest that the Tswana pigs are endangered because the total number of breeding females across the country is likely to be less than 1000.

Most farmers do not sell their pigs. This adds support to the idea that most farmers are hobbyists who only keep a few pigs. Farmers give very few pigs as gifts, few are slaughtered and very few are loaned to other farmers. All these trends support the notion of hobby farming where money making is not the aim. Where pigs are sold, the majority of the farmers aim to make financial gains, which is understandable given that they buy most of the feed. All farmers were aware of religion as a taboo against keeping pigs. Other reasons for not keeping pigs are that some people are allergic to them, they smell terrible and they are a reservoir of tonsillitis, which can be transmitted to human beings. Pigs are occasionally slaughtered for home consumption and their by-products, such as fat, have a number of uses such as in soap making and as a lubricant in traditional leather rope making (Table 4). This is a subsistence set up where the farmer’s aim is to feed his/her family. Ropes are used in harnessing draft animals in crop production. From observation, one local commercial farmer used both indigenous and commercial pigs in a complimentary system by slaughtering indigenous pigs and combining the additional fat thus obtained with meat from commercial breed to make sausages. These kinds of uses need to be explored to identify market related incentives (niche markets) to promote the rearing of indigenous pigs. Other uses of pig fat include use in traditional medicine and as a seed preservative.

The common colours of Tswana indigenous pigs are black or a mixture of black and white and occasionally pure white (Figure 1, 2 and 3). One negative trait associated with indigenous pigs in the commercial scene is the tendency for Tswana pigs to exhibit spotted skin pigmentation, the skin being eaten as part of the carcass. Consumers are said to discriminate against the dark pigmentation. Some socio-economic studies are needed to further overcome barriers or hindrances to keeping indigenous pigs. Tswana pigs are perceived to have high longevity, medium to high fertility, high drought tolerance, high heat tolerance, high disease tolerance and high growth and development (Table 5). These traits are all of economic importance especially for sustainable agriculture and as such further research is required to verify some of these claims under the harsh climatic conditions of Botswana.

Figure 3. Front picture of an indigenous Tswana pig in a farm.

Conclusions

Indigenous Tswana pigs are still kept by farmers mostly in Ramotswa and a few in Kweneng and Kgatleng district under a communal farming system in the Gaborone Agricultural Region. Pig farming with indigenous animals is mainly at a subsistence level. There is potential to develop the indigenous breed to contribute significantly to the local pig industry based on the positive qualities of the breed. Exploiting this potential will add value so that the importance of indigenous pigs is realized and hence this breed is conserved. Most of the farmers keep them as purebreds, which has contributed to their existence as a breed despite their few numbers. Additional research information is required to support the sustainable utilization of the breed.

Recommendations

á The few numbers of Tswana pigs suggest that conservation programs should be put in place urgently to ensure that this pig breed does not become extinct. This is a real possibility given that one farm is keeping crossbred pigs in a communal farming system and overall increasingly few farmers are keeping pure Tswanas as a result of the lack of new young farmers choosing to participate in pig farming.

á More research should be carried out on production potential of indigenous pig breed under different management systems and also in comparison with exotic breeds, both as a pure breed and in crossbreeding programs

á There is need to undertake socio-economic studies and to develop markets for various pig products to encourage farmers to realize the high potential of the breed and also ensure its conservation. Exploration of other viable incentives for farmers keeping the breed is necessary.

á Farmers should be taught basic husbandry techniques to improve their management skills and hence increase production

Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge Mr M. Marumo for entering the data into the computer and Botswana College of Agriculture for providing funds for this study.

References

Botswana Agricultural Census Report. 1999. Ministry of Agriculture, Gaborone, Botswana.

Eusebio, J.A. 1988. Pig production in the tropics. Intermediate Tropical Agriculture Series. Longman Scientific and Technical UK, pp. 115.

Jaume, J. & L. Alfonso. 2000. The Majorcan Black pig. Animal Genetic Resources Information 27: 53-58.

Nsoso, S.J. & M.J Madimabe. 2000. A review of the sheep industry in Botswana: promoting the Karakul sheep industry. South African Journal of Animal Science 29: 258-262

Nsoso, S.J. & G.T. Morake. 1999. A critical look at the use of exotic bulls and a proposed breeding strategy under traditional farming in Botswana. South African Journal of Animal Science 29: 100-104.

Nsoso, S.J. & K.P. Mosala, R.T. Ndebele & S.S. Ramabu. 2000. The prevalence of internal and external parasites in pigs of different ages and sexes in Southeast District, Botswana. Onderstepoort Journal of Veterinary Research 67: 217-220

Podisi, B. 2001. Management of farm animal genetic resources in Botswana. In S.H.B. Lebbie & L. Kamau (Eds). Proceedings of the Planning and Priority Setting Workshop on Animal Genetic Resources in the SADC Region held in Gaborone, Botswana 19-22 February 2001, 13-21.

Ramsay, K., M. Smuts & H.C. Els. 2000. Adding value to South African landrace breeds conservation through utilisation. Animal Genetic Resources Information 27: 1-7.

Senyatso, E.K. & B.S. Masilo. 1996. Animal Genetic Resources Information. Food Agricultural Organisation of The United Nations, 57-68.

SAS Institute. 1999-2000. SAS^® User’s Guide Version 8.1. SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC. USA.