1.1.

Livestock farming system

There is considerable diversity of livestock production systems across the continent, which is
largely shaped by climate (rainfall amount and distribution, as well as temperature), and
landscape as well as socio-cultural and economic factors. Livestock production systems are
defined on the basis of land use by livestock, and for this purpose the distinction between grazing
systems, mixed farming systems and industrial (or landless) systems has been widely accepted.
Based on the degree of homogeneity in terms of resilience to climate change three categories
(range-based livestock systems, mixed farming systems and off land systems) were identified in
Africa.

However, the livestock production system in the tropics is put in the context of the large classes
of farming systems and in the context of the principal ecological zones and the type of livestock
and the livestock products, by the function livestock have and by the management principles of
production five classes of livestock production systems were identified. They are pastoral range-
livestock production system, crop-livestock production system in the low lands, crop-livestock
production system in the highlands, ranching and landless livestock production system

1.1.1 Pastoral Range-livestock Production Systems

Range-livestock production systems are production systems based on the use of the natural or
semi-natural vegetation via domestic animals, in particular ruminants. Grazing ruminants are the
dominant form of land use. Nomads make use of the hyper-arid zones, usually with camels and
goats in a higher proportion with cattle rather.
The proportion of cattle in herds increases in arid regions where transhumance becomes more
important. Livestock production is a tribal affair based on traditional rights to the rangelands.
The main product is milk, the major component of the human diet; meat is not a major concern.
Pastoralists basically seek to attain their subsistence from their livestock and are therefore more
interested in continuous flows of food, such as milk, dairy products or blood, than in terminal
products such as meat of slaughtered animals. This is also a reason for keeping small ruminants,
being smaller units easier to handle and trade.
A limited number of animals are sold for cash in order to purchase cereals or clothing or to pay
taxes. The major goals in pastoral systems are to assure subsistence for the increasing
community and to avert risk of disease and drought mainly by maximizing livestock numbers.
Also, social and cultural functions are also important. In the extensive grazing systems of the
tropics, seasonal fluctuations in feed supply are mainly buffered by the loss of weight of the
animals. This, however, limits their productivity, which is found mostly in marginal locations, its
production potential in global terms is relatively low. In this pastoral range-livestock system,
labour is extensive, using of capital-intensive technologies is very low to enhance the
productivity of the basic resource, a productive rangeland.
Pastoral peoples carry forward an array of diverse cultures, ecological adaptations and
management systems that have changed with modernity. Management is characterized by the
adaptation of the feed requirements of the animals to the environment through migration; land
tenure is communal. The major environmental concern in the system is the degradation of
rangelands through inappropriate range management practices.

1.4.2. Crop-livestock Production Systems in the Lowlands

Crop-livestock production systems denote land use systems in which livestock husbandry and
cropping are practiced in association. This association may be close and complex or livestock
husbandry and cropping may be parallel activities without interaction, possibly not even
belonging to the same management unit. In this case the association is reduced to geographical
proximity.
Essentially crop-livestock production is used for livestock production that takes place in arable
areas or in areas with an arable potential. Farmers herd livestock in the rangelands and also
produce crops on fertile land. The system is used in a dual sense: Firstly, it refers to farming
systems entirely based on livestock but practiced in proximity to and perhaps functional
association with other farming systems based on cropping. Secondly it refers to the livestock
sub-system of crop-livestock farming. The term mixed farming will be reserved for such farming
systems in which crop production and livestock production display pronounced and mutually
beneficial interactions within a farm. Both the crop and the animal system are managed by
distinct decision makers, but decisions are closely interrelated.
Milk is more important in the subtropical and drier parts of the tropics, particularly where farms
are smaller and access to markets is provided. There is an ample land resource in this system in
relation to its population. This system is characterized by low performance of cattle due to
disease pressure.

1.4.3. Crop-livestock Production Systems in the Highlands

Tropical highlands are defined as areas with a mean daily temperature of less than 20 0C during
the growing period. The farming systems are based on cropping and on livestock husbandry
practiced in association. There are a number of features that make the farming systems in the
highlands different from those in the lowlands and justify their separate consideration:
 Generally speaking, the highlands are favoured by good soils and suitable climatic
conditions for farming allowing higher productivity and/or higher population densities
than elsewhere. Fodder productivity also permits higher livestock densities than in other
zones.
 As a consequence of high and generalized population pressure cropping intensities are
high and more or less permanent cropping is common, although fallow farming, ley
farming and grazing systems occur.
 Unlike the lowland areas, crop husbandry and livestock husbandry in the highlands are
normally practiced within the same management unit. The crop-livestock association is
therefore approaching more the concept of mixed farming although the degree of
livestock integration may be less than the ideal.
 The cropping pattern of highland farms includes crops unsuitable for lowland areas like
wheat, barley, teff (in Ethiopia), Arabica coffee, pyrethrum, tea and others.
 The area is by and large free of tsetse flies and the farming systems unaffected by
trypanosomiasis.
  The area provides ecologically suitable conditions also for farming of the type common
in temperate zones and for the introduction of high-yielding plant varieties and animal
breeds from the temperate zone.

Originally the highlands probably attracted people for reasons of military security, relative
freedom of disease and high potential productivity. The natural conditions as characterized by
ample sun, good soils and the absence of temperate extremes are indeed favorable to both crop
and livestock production. The highest livestock density (livestock-land ratio) of all ecological
zones is found in the highlands. All the ruminant livestock species are represented. Ethiopia has
a particularly high livestock population with a high proportion of sheep and equines. Here the
work function of livestock (oxen for draught, equines for transport) is predominant. Meat and
milk production from cattle has often reached a significant degree of commercialization. Sheep
are used for meat (subsistence and market) and wool for local industries.

1.4.4. Ranching system

Ranching systems are range-livestock production systems like pastoral systems, but production
parameters, livestock functions and livestock management are radically different. Ranching is
labor-extensive undertaking specializing in the production from one or two livestock species of a
marketable commodity, mainly live animals for slaughter, i. e. for meat, skins and hides, but also
wool and milk. The function of livestock is therefore to provide cash income. Livestock
management is characterized by grazing within fixed boundaries by individual tenure and by
intensification possibilities for feeding and watering. This does not mean that ranches always
constitute private property. The form of ownership may be parastatal, cooperative or private
(companies or individuals) and instead of straight-forward ownership there may be lease
arrangements and the like.
This highly market-oriented production system is largely focused on beef production and is
characterized by high capital inputs, sedentary production, and often some form of private land
tenure. Ranching systems have been developed on state owned rangelands as well as private and
group ranches, and the system is particularly prevalent in eastern and southern Africa. Ranching
is a relatively modern land use system and has been called a child of the industrial revolution. It
has been introduced into Tropical Africa by Europeans during the colonial period.
1.4.5. Landless livestock production systems
Landless livestock production systems refer to systems in which the importance of land for
livestock production is significantly reduced in comparison with the systems so far dealt with.
This is particularly the case with species that do not obtain their feed requirements through
grazing, notably pigs and chickens. Landless livestock production is largely carried out urban
and peri-urban areas and it is defined by the use of monogastric species (mainly chicken and
pigs) and ruminants (cattle and marginally sheep). Two main types of husbandry practices have
been identified under urban/peri urban production system. First, livestock is either controlled or
zero grazed. Second, livestock grazing is not fully controlled, but forage under free roaming
condition on vacant plots and along the roadsides or scavenge on garbage sites.

Zero grazing systems are independent of any agricultural use of the land. They use only animal
feeds such as cultivated fodder and agro-industrial by-products, whether concentrated or
unrefined: cereals, oil seed cakes, bran, hay and straw or sometime only manufactured feed (pig
fattening or pig production). They focus mainly on poultry (for eggs and meat), pig farming, and
milk production to a lesser extent.

 Pig Production Systems

The total pig population in Tropical Africa is estimated at 7.3 million head. The largest
concentration of pigs is in the coastal belt from Senegal to Cameroon. The distribution reflects
ecological conditions, religious particularly Islamic taboos and development efforts of the past.

Three basic production systems of pig distinguished are: Traditional systems, commercial
and advanced commercial systems within an overall stratification of production.

Traditional systems: -The animals are indigenous small breeds and live on waste products of
the household and the fields. There are practically no fixed investments. Management is
characterized by the absence of supplementary feeding, health care (vaccination and deworming
in particular) and housing. Only about 3-4 piglets are weaned per sow and year and the carcass
weight hardly exceeds 50 kg. Production is destined for home or village consumption.

Commercial production systems: is producing for the market use concentrates for feeding and
incur costs for current inputs and investments. The commercial systems are normally self-
contained units engaged in both breeding and fattening. The economics of the different systems
are largely determined by the prices and price differentials for the different meat qualities
produced. Fat meat is in relatively higher demand in Africa than in industrialized countries
which in part explains the premium paid in Africa for pig meat over beef.

The advanced systems: Central units engage in stud breeding, selection and experimentation on
feeding and health care. Other units engage exclusively in piglet production, which still requires
a high level of management, while fattening is carried out in either specialized large enterprises
or in smallholdings. Such stratification and specialization is seen as the long-term development
path for pig production also in Tropical Africa but has not been implemented on a large scale yet.
Pig productivity in Tropical Africa appears to be the lowest of any world region.

 Poultry Production Systems

Poultry production systems show a clear distinction between traditional, low-input systems on
one side and modern batch production systems using advanced technology in housing, feeding,
breeding, marketing and processing on the other. Once a farmer starts producing for the market,
the use of modern technology appears to be so much more efficient than the traditional system
that the producer will make a quantum jump very quickly, and adopt production technology as
has been developed in the industrialized countries. If successful, he will also increase the size of
his operations to utilize economies of scale. Poultry production in Africa is therefore a
combination of a large number of small subsistence producers selling also some of their produce
to the market, and a few large-scale producers supplying urban consumer markets.

Farm-yard poultry production is probably the most common form of animal husbandry in Africa,
being practiced by virtually every rural family. The main features are minimum inputs with birds
scavenging on the farm and no investments beyond the birds and their simple enclosures - and
low productivity. Meat and egg productivity are both low.

Specialized egg production units are one type of commercial poultry production system. They
can be found in the vicinity of many African cities. Being labour-intensive and guaranteeing
regular daily incomes, they are normally smaller operations than commercial broiler units,
ranging from about 500 to several thousand birds. Egg production units are normally found close
to a source of commercial feed supply which in turn is likely to be linked to the milling industry
in that country. Chickens are typically bought from one of the hatcheries or they are imported.
Egg marketing is mainly direct from the producer to the consumer, or through
retailers; organized egg marketing systems through cooperatives or wholesalers is
rare.

Hatcheries: A number of hatcheries licensed by overseas poultry companies compete

for the market of day-old chicks in many African countries. The producer has thus
access to genetically superior material at reasonable cost. Hatcheries are either
importing eggs or parent stock for day- old chick production.

1.2. Status and challenges of livestock production

Smallholder farmers in the traditional sector face many challenges that constrain them
from generating income from their livestock meant for accelerated and shared growth
and rural poverty reduction. The challenges include livestock diseases, Poor
Veterinary Service and Farming System, lack of access to land and water, lack of
access to markets, lack of access to credit facilities, persistent draught, poor animal
nutrition and smaller herd size. In addition, small farmers have low volumes of
marketable surplus and their farms are mostly located in remote areas with poorly
developed infrastructure and transportation, leading them to face high transaction costs
and risks in production and marketing of such commodities.