Beef cattle development initiatives: a case of Matobo A2 Resettlement farms in Zimbabwe
Boat Sibanda*, John S. Dube and Adolf B. Dube
Corresponding Author:boesibanda@gmail.com
ABSTRACT
The study was carried out to examine various practices that resettled A2 farmers have adopted to enhance cattle rearing in Matobo district in Matabeleland south province in Zimbabwe. A multi-stage random sampling method was used to select 60 a smallholder farmers to which a structured questionnaire was randomly administered. Statistical Package for Social Sciences, SPSS was used for data computation. It was observed that 47% of the farmers keep local (indigenous) breeds and 67% of the participants indicated that farmers retain steers for draught purposes. There was no significant difference (P<0.05) between the numbers of cattle sold to private butcheries and the one sold to private buyers. Farmers face challenges in cattle feeding especially during winter. Informal cattle marketing systems have resulted in low prices offered to cattle on sale. There is need for farmers to form cooperatives so that they can gain value from their cattle production business.
Keywords: Cattle, smallholder, Resettlement, A2 farms.
INTRODUCTION
Livestock play an important role in the socio-economy of the small holder farmers in the communal and resettled areas of Zimbabwe through provision of draught power, milk, meat, occasional sales and use at social functions (Sibanda, 2008 and Barret, 1991). Livestock are a source of risk aversion which allows for survival and adaptability in the event of calamities such as droughts and floods which may cause crop failure. In African culture livestock ownership is a standard measure of wealth and power. However, the need for development of viable cattle production initiatives seems to be a challenge to farmers who own large numbers of indigenous cattle breeds in Zimbabwe , for example in the area under study, a total of 1 232 cattle died in 2012 due to drought and starvation (Livestock Production Department, 2011).
The Fast Track Land Reform Programmed (FTLRP) that started in year 2000 radically changed the agrarian structure in Zimbabwe and provided an opportunity for small holder communal farmers (A2 farmers) to engage in commercial livestock production to some farmers.
This was because the new resettlement farms (A2 farms) are relatively bigger in size than the previous farm holdings (in communal areas), have better grazing and water resources and, to a certain extent, provide a possibility for better control of livestock breeding and other husbandry practices (Scoones et al 2010). New resettlement areas thus provide a new opportunity to revive the beef production enterprise in Zimbabwe.
However, the new cattle production farmers seem to have capacity gaps to sustainably engage in viable cattle production. This paper seeks to explore beef cattle development initiatives that can be employed by cattle producing farmers to enhance cattle production in Matobo district. These strategies can then be collectively adopted with relevant modification by farmers in other semi arid regions to improve cattle production.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Study sites
Matobo district is located south of Bulawayo and is bordered by Gwanda on the East and Mangwe district on the South. It lies along the latitude 21o south, longitude 280 30’ east (Figure1).The Southern part of the district is dry and in Natural region 5.
The Northern side of the district is in Natural region 4 and receives more rainfall compared to the South. This is a low lying area on the Northern part of the district closer to Bulawayo town. The average rainfall received in the area is 466 mm per annum.
The study sites are located are ward 23 and 24 located about 70km and 134 km from Bulawayo respectively, in the southeastern part of Matobo District in Matabeleland South Province. The district has a total carrying capacity of 870 LUs (LPD report, 2012) and wards population is 99 836 (World Bank, 2006). Ward 24 has an area of about 25 700ha and is found in Natural Farming Region 5, receiving rainfall of less than 500mm a year.
Ward 23 comprises mostly of A1 farmers with A2 constituting 17%. Ward 23 has an area of about 18 320 hectares and comprises of 22 - A1 farmers and 8 -A2 farmers. The outstanding feature of rainfall in the area is its marked variability and unpredictability from one year to another. Low rainfall interspersed with long dry spells and high summer temperatures of up to 40 degrees means that the area is generally dry.
Vegetation
The area under study is suitable for cattle ranching because of its expanse sweet pastures. The physiognomic type is Tree Bush Savannah (TBS), mostly on the northern side of ward 23 with predominantly Mopane, Combretums and Acacia trees. The most dominant grass species are the Panicum maximum, Eragrostis curvula and Hypperrhenia filipendula with pockets of setaria and cross grasses. Heteropogon cortutus is scattered on mostly rocky and kopjes in the northwestern side of ward 23.
Figure 1: Location of Matobo district
Objectives
The objectives and key strategies to the study are outlined in Table 1.
SWOT analysis of cattle farmers in Matobo district
Farmers in the district predominantly keep mixed non-descript herd of indigenous cattle breeds. Although the animals are hard they have been subjected to inbreeding and intense selection for individual growth and have suffered great losses in maternal performance. Bratton (1994); Chimoyo (1991) and Cheater (1984) note that Zebu cattle have been produced in situations where their greatest attribute is the ability to survive the harsh environment. Consequently their contributions to commercial beef production have generally been their maternal influence in early calf growth and their merit in adaptation to tropical and sub-tropical environment (Khombe, 2008) .Cattle are allowed to graze during the day in open paddocks and kraaled over night to prevent them from predators (such as leopard, hyena and the Cheetahs) that would have strayed from Matobo National Park. Due to these fears from predators and sometimes poachers, cattle graze for about 4 – 6 hours per day.
Materials and methods
A qualitative and quantitative approach was used during the research. A preliminary survey of ex-communal farmers that have settled under A2 settlement model in ward 23 and 24 of Matabeleland South province was carried out. The questionnaire was piloted before it was served to selected farmers within the wards.
Sampling frame work
From within each ward resettlement models were stratified into A1 and A2 models and numbered. According to Seinfeld (1988) stratification of research subjects simplifies data analysis since the participants would be grouped according to similar type and model. Research subjects (farmers) were subsequently randomly selected from within each ward. Questionnaires as the main tool of collecting primary data were randomly administered to 60 research subjects of the A1 and A2 resettlement models. Observation recording forms, guide for focus group moderator and content analysis guide were used to assist in qualitative data collection. Creswell (2004) notes that information collected during the course of focus group, like that collected during the face to face interviews is raw data. Therefore, information collected from these interviews was analyzed using the Statistics Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) and descriptive statistics using Microsoft excel.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Cattle keeping
Farmers within the district keep large numbers of mixed cattle breeds, abundantly non-descript. There is no defined breeding policy and farmers seem to be concerned about cattle numbers than ‘cattle types’. Cattle are kept in kraals during the night and are released to the grazing areas during the day. Farmers employ ‘communal grazing’ system where herders spend the rest of the day tending cattle in the grazing areas. Herd class composition is highly skewed with more male animals than female animals. The observation made was that about 67% of the respondents highlighted that steers are retained for drought power (during land tillage and sometimes pulling scotch carts). Most farmers (>80%) milk the animals during summer.
Breed Preferences
Farmers have different tastes and preferences for various breeds. Most farmers (47 %) in both ward 23 and 24 prefer local breeds. The reason cited is that they are hard and can tolerate harsh climate conditions and parasites. Indigenous breeds are also tamable, hence are suitable for drought purposes.
Cattle Marketing
The most routes through which cattle are marketed is through the middle person. Farmers from both wards emphasized that they are willing to sell cattle only if they come across emergent reasons and formal market channel was not a priority, they preferred private sale or local market. No significant difference in willingness was found between these two study areas.
Farmers’ challenges in cattle production
There is a built in perception among the farmers that their cattle breeds are of poor quality and hence have a low potential to fetch high prizes on the market. As such most of the cattle are sold through the middle person who offers relatively low prizes. 20% of the farmers cited poor availability of market information and absence of an efficient low-risk distribution and payment system. It was noted that most cattle owners (>73%) have skewed herd compositions with large percentages of male (uncatsrated) to female animals. This unbalanced herd class impacts negatively in cattle breeding. Tawonezvi (2003) reports that a successful cattle production system should maintain an optimal cow to bull ratio of 1:25. Livestock productivity and bulling ratio of up to 30 cows per one breeding bull have been mentioned elsewhere (World bank, 2006) as such there is serious inbreeding amongst the herds resulting in poor quality stock.
Grazing availability and management was the most challenge facing farmers in Matobo district. Ward (2008) has identified nutrition as the major success factor towards cattle production in semi-arid areas. Scant grazing has both resulted in high mortalities of more 23% in cattle between 6 months to two and half years and low stocking densities of up to 10 ha per Livestock Unit (LU). Uncontrolled breeding – where cows run with the bull throughout the year has resulted in calves dropped during the time when there is not sufficient grazing. As a result high calf mortality (60%) has been recorded with some farmers losing all the calves born in that year. Calves which survive have low weaning weights and poor growth. While Sibanda (2005) and Khombe (2008) reports calf’s birth weight estimates to be 7% of the mature body mass of the dam- it was generally noted that the calves which succumbed to poverty were born will farm less weight. Tick borne disease and predators have been a challenge in particular in ward 23. This is partly as a result of the proximity of the area to Matobo National Park – where carriers of tick born disease are the wild game and due to poor dipping management. 2% of the farmers in ward 24 cited malignant fever disease (vectored by wild beast) as a threat to their livestock. The following table shows farmers’ response challenges they are facing in cattle production in Matobo district.
CONCLUSION
Cattle production in arid and semi arid region of Zimbabwe requires farmers to up their management levels particularly during the dry season. Supplementation of rangeland feed with high protein concentrate will ensure high survivability of livestock during time of drought. Smallholder farmers require capacity building particularly in areas of animal husbandry and marketing systems so that they can benefit from their cattle production enterprises.
RECOMMENDATIONS
Matobo district has good geo-physical and vegetation landscape for cattle production. However, the region faces perennial dry spells that makes cattle production difficult. Farmers are required to implement programmes that will abate loss of cattle during the dry season by preserving supplementary fodder, avoiding wild fires and culling old aged animals. Breeding for hardness (chimoyo et al, 1999) can be another strategy that farmers can employ to save animals from drought. Farmers also need to monitor the stocking densities and paddock infrastructure. This will ensure that grazing is available to cattle for the greater part of the year. Health care is important particularly on tick born related disease, which accounts for more than 20% of cattle deaths. Capacity building on use and calibration of dip acaricides ensures that farmers are able to apply the correct dosages to eradicate the parasites. Profit realization from cattle enterprise can be obtained by selling of cattle to formal market such as Cold Storage Company, CC sales and Agric Auctions. These cattle development initiatives, if adopted can improve cattle production within the district.
REFERENCE
Barret, J.C. 1991. Valuing animal draught in agro-pastoral farming system in Zimbabwe. In: Tillage, past and future. Proceeding of a workshop held at the Institute of Agricultural Engineering, Hatcliffe, Harare, Zimbabwe on 14 and 15, November 1989, CIMMYT FSR Networkshop Report 22.
Bratton, M. 1994. Land Distribution, 1980 – 1990 In: Zimbabwe Agricultural revolution, Ed. Mandivamba, R and Eicher, C, University of Zimbabwe Publications, Harare, Zimbabwe.
Cheater, A. 1984. Idioms of accumulation: rural development and class formation among freeholders in Zimbabwe, Mambo Press, Gweru , Zimbabwe.
Chimonyo, M., N.T. Kusina, H. Hamudikuwanda and O. Nyoni. 1999. A survey on land use and usage of cattle for draught in a smallholder farming area of Zimbabwe. Journal of Applied Science. 2:111-121.
Creswell, J.W. 1994. Research Design: Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches, Thousand Oaks, CA, Sage.
Khombe, C.T. and L.R. Ndlovu. 2008. The Livestock sector after the Fast Track Land Reforms in Zimbabwe. ISBN:987-0-7974-3698-5. Print Force Production. Harare.
Report. 2011. Department of Livestock and Veterinary: Analysis of Livestock Production: Cattle distribution by sector. Raylton. Bulawayo. Zimbabwe.
Report. 2012 Department of Livestock and Veterinary: Analysis of Livestock Production: Cattle distribution by sector. Raylton.Bulawayo. Zimbabwe
Sibanda, R. 2005. Key issues and trends in the Livestock Sector – A case study for Zimbabwe. Desktop study submitted to ICRISAT and ILRI, P.O Box 776, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe.
Sibanda, R. 2008. Market access policy options for FMD-challenged Zimbabwe: a rethink. Trans-boundary animal disease and market access: future options for beef the industry in southern Africa, Working paper 6, Brighton:STEPS centre, Institute of Development Studies.
Scoones, I., N. Maraongwe, J.M. Mavedzenge, F. Murimbarimba, and C. Sukume.2010. Zimbabwe’s Land Reform: Myths and Realities, Weaver Press, Avondale, Harare, Zimbabwe.
Steinfield, H. 1988. Livestock development in mixed farming systems, Doppler, W(ed). Farming systems and Resources Economics in the Tropics, 3, Harare, zimbabwe
Ward , A. and N. Mathebula. 2008 Land Reform and Development: Evaluating South Africa’s Restitution and Redistribution Programme, Post Graduate School of Agriculture and Rural Development, Preotria 0002, South Africa.
World Bank. 2006. Agriculture Growth and Land Reform in Zimbabwe: Assessment and Recovery Options, Report No. 31699-ZW.World Bank.
World Food Programme Report (WFP /FAO). 2002. Food Security mission Assessment, Economic and Social Development Department.
Tawonezvi, H. 2003. Agriculture Research Policy in Zimbabwe Agricultural Revolution, Eds. Mandivamba, R and C.K. Eicher , University of Zimbabwe Publications, Harare, Zimbabwe.
Copyright © 2014, World Science and Research Publishing. All rights reserved.
Refbacks
- There are currently no refbacks.
Copyright (c) 2014 Global Journal of Animal Scientific Research
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.