SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHWESTERN DAIRY/ BEEF STUDY SUMMARY
The recent survey by Janda Consult researchers conducted September, 2021, interviewed 616 livestock farmers (South Central Uganda n=278 and Southwestern Uganda n=338) shows that most of the sampled farmers (68.8%) kept cattle for dual purpose while 34.9% of the farmers in the Southwestern and 15.5% of farmers in South Central Uganda kept cattle, mainly, for milk production. Fattening for beef production was reported by less than 10% of sampled households; 9.7% in South Central and 1.2% in Southwestern.
In both regions, the Ankole breed was the most common, and reported by 55.3% of farmers in Southwestern and 37.4% of farmers in the South Central. The Friesian breed was also common among the farmers, especially in the Southwestern (32.0%). At least 30.7% of the farmers kept more than one cattle breed. Further, 58% had a local breed; notably Zebu or Ankole.
The median herd size for cattle was 10 animals (IQR 4–22), comprising of one male calf (range 1–4), two female calves (range 1–28), five cows (range 1–58) and one bull (range 1–30). The bulls were mainly kept by the farmers in South Central keeping dual purpose cattle and cattle for beef production. One in two of the sampled households owned at least 10 animals and 63% owned at least 5 animals.
The survey found that rain-fed natural pastures were the main feeds for livestock production. Overall, 85.6% of the farmers in both regions fed cattle on rain-fed natural pastures. Only 4.5% use planted fodder for their animals. In addition, about 12% of the farmers, in both South Central and Southwestern, give processed feeds (supplements and concentrates) and all farmers mentioned providing crop residues to the animals.
Land acreage planted with natural pastures: Land acreage for rain-fed natural resources is 33.5 in South Central region and 20.4 in Southwestern region. On average, 1.1 animals were fed on one acre of land.
The survey also found that only 6.2% of the farmers reported access to improved certified pasture and fodder trees, and majority of these are male headed households. Nonetheless, 30% (similar in South Central and Southwestern) of the farmers reported to have attended training about natural pasture production in the last 12 months. Trainings were conducted by CATs (cited by 37% of the farmers), NGO staff (23% of the farmers) and fellow farmers.
Over 80.3% of the farmers in South Central region are not involved in any forage preservation and conservation but majority (71.1%) in Southwestern region reported making hay and silage or having fodder banks.
Thirty percent and 46.7% of farmers in South Central and Southwestern region reported lack of right pasture seeds to use to produce enough pasture for hay or silage making. Overall, other challenges for making silage include lack of equipment (27.4%) and storage facilities (15.4%).
Only 41% of the farmers reported having enough feeds for the animal needs throughout the year.Particularly affected by the insufficient feeds throughout the year were the farmers from the South Central (77%) as compared to the Southwestern (45%). The farmers in Southwestern were involved in fodder preservation and are better able to assure sufficiency of feeds.
Ten percent (15.1% in South Central and 5.3% in Southwestern) of the farmers reported to have purchased animal feeds in the last 12 months. This is similar to the national average of 4.4% of livestock farmers who reported to have purchased feeds according to Uganda AAS 2018 (UBOS, 2020).
Twelve percent of the farmers reported providing supplements and concentrates to their cattle. This is higher than the national average of 4.4% of the livestock farmers that purchase feeds. These feeds are majorly provided for by private practitioners (63.1%) from whom farmers pay. Some of these practitioners are located within 10 km distance. Self-processing of supplements was common among farmers in southwestern that feed their cattle on processed feeds.
Fifty seven percent (57%) of the farmers that purchased feeds from private practitioners were not sure about the quality of the feeds while 10.0% reported the quality to unsatisfactory.
The principal sources of water for livestock varied. On-farm wells were the most common sources of water in Southwestern and reported by 63.6% of the farmers. In the South Central, dam water was the most common, and reported by 34.6% of the farmers. Other commonly used sources included communal wells, borehole and rivers or streams.
88.5% of the farmers from the southwestern reported to have enough water for production throughout a year, 66.5% of the farmers from the south central reported insufficiency.
Majority of farmers surveyed (68.5%) used improved bulls for breeding while use of Artificial Insemination (AI) method was reported by only 7.8%. In the south central, two in five farmers have no controlled breeding. The main reason for using the improved bull method was that it was cheap (cited by 93%). About 4% cited failure to access AI services as a reason to continue with improved bull method. Main reason for not adopting AI-technique was due to high costs (90%). Only 15% reported using sexed semen, as many reported limited availability of sexed semen (46%) and prohibitive costs (45.7%).
The milk production was about 27.2liters per day in south central and 23.1liters per day per household in southwestern. Of these amount 86%, similar to both south central and southwestern is sold. On average, a cow produces 4 liters per day. This production level is higher than the national average of about 1.4 liters per day per cow reported in AAS 2028 (UBOS 2020).
Conclusion
Most farmers keep cattle for dual purposes, and having more than one breed is common. Most of the farmers keep indigenous cattle, but farmers in the southwestern have taken up cross-breeds as well. Most cattle are kept in open or semi-grazing systems, with few farmers stall feeding their animals (either fully or partly), and almost all relies on the rain-fed natural pastures. Few farmers are investing feed production and purchase of processed feeds. Milk farmers noted that even with the current system, recovery of production costs due to low milk prices is a challenge. They are, thus, discouraged from investing more.
Due to limited access to improved seed for pastures and technical knowledge in processing silage, many farmers in the south central are not involved in forage preservation. The feeds are generally said to be insufficient for the animal needs throughout the year.
Whereas, access to water for production has improved for the farmers in the southwestern, most farmers in the south central report struggling to access water for production. Water in dams was said to be far from most farmers or partially dries up.
Whereas, many farmers want to adopt AI services, the cost has been the most limiting. Further, service points being far or AI technicians being few and unable to reach farmers in time, and this coupled with need for repeat inseminations has discouraged the farmers. The attitudes of farmers toward repeat inseminations and lost opportunities for cows to conceive when using AI services were reported to be negative. Further, the low prices of milk are in themselves inhibitory for adoption of improved technologies.
The milk yield in the sampled household was above the national average and over 75% of the milk produced is put on market for sale. Generally prices for milk are low to break even from input costs. They reported this to have limited them from adopting improved feeding practices. Milk storage and transportation is also still challenge to many farmers.
Acknowledge
- Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF)
- District Local Government
- Cattle farmers
Researchers: Dr. Fred Kabi (Animal scientist), Dr. Symon P. Wandiembe (Statistician), Muzira Isha (Livestock Consultant)
