Alec Makgekgenene; Leonard Baleseng; Sirak Bahta; E. Molemogi; E. Metlhaleng and Ben Lukuyu

Conference on Policies for Competitive

Smallholder Livestock Production

Gaborone, Botswana, 4-6 March 2015

Agriculture sector in Botswana entails crops and

livestock production. Beef cattle are predominantly kept under communal

and commercial system. Cattle population stands at 2.2 million (statistics

Botswana, 2012) Communal system accounts for 80% of the national

cattle herd (Norris et al., 2002). In both systems over 90% of feed supplies come from

rangelands (Malope et al., 2007). FEAST was done in 19 extension in Botswana to

assess local feed resource availabilty

Introduction

Production systems in study sites

Study siteTypical production

systemMean land size (ha)

Mean household size

(No.)

MOCHUDIMixed crop and livestock

production5 5

MOLEPOLOLEMixed crop and livestock

production10 6

JWANENG

Mainly pastoral livestock

production with some

arable crop farming

16 5

TSABONG

Mainly pastoral livestock

production with some

arable crop farming

6 5

GHANZIMainly pastoral livestock

production.4,900 8

HUKUNTSIMainly pastoral livestock

production.6 6

KANGMainly pastoral livestock

production.6 7

Proportion of HH by farmer category

Mixed crop livestock systems Mainly pastoral systems

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Landless Small farmer Mediumfarmer

Large farmer

0 Up to 4 4to 16 More than25

% o

f h

ou

seh

old

s th

at f

all i

nto

th

e ca

tego

ry

Range of land size in hectar

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Landless Small farmer Medium farmer Large farmer

0 up to 9 10 to 15 more than 15

% o

f h

ou

seh

old

s th

at fa

ll in

to t

he

cate

gory

Range of land size in hectar

Average livestock holdings per household - dominant species (TLU)

Mixed crop livestock systems

0.00

20.00

40.00

60.00

80.00

100.00

120.00

140.00

160.00

180.00

Goats ImprovedBeef cattle

ImprovedBuffalo

Local Beefcattle

Sheep

Mainly pastoral systems

0.00

20.00

40.00

60.00

80.00

100.00

120.00

140.00

160.00

180.00

ImprovedBeef cattle

Goats Fatteningand

draughtcattle

Horse Fatteningand

draughtbuffalo

Feeding systems

District Type of feeding system

JWANENG (Pastoral)

Livestock graze on natural pastures during the day and are kraaled at night. Supplementary feeding offered periodically as pastures deteriorate.

GHANZI Pastoral)

Cattle and goats are kraaled during the day and released to graze at night on natural pastures. Kraaling during the day allows farmers to treat sick animals and do routine managerial practices.

HUKUNTSI (Pastoral)

Cattle are usually released to graze on designated rangelands during the day and kraaled at night. Some farmers supplement cattle diets with Acacia tree pods and indigenous browse plants during the dry season.

MOCHUDI (Mixed crop)

Grazing on communal lands. Animals are periodically given supplementary feeds mostly during the dry season. Silage is sometimes offered to cattle for feeding especially by large scale farmers.

MOLEPOLOLE(Mixed crop)

Livestock (cattle, goats and sheep) is usually released to graze on natural pastures during the day and kraaled at night. Animal are supplemented with crop residues mixed with concentrates during the dry season or when pastures deteriorate.

Average area (ha) per HH of dominant arable crops

Mixed crop livestock systems

0.00

0.50

1.00

1.50

2.00

2.50

3.00

3.50

4.00

Maize (Zea mays) Cabbage (Brassicaoleracea)

Pumpkin(Cucurbitamaxima)

Ave

rage

are

a p

er

ho

use

ho

ld (

he

ctar

es

Mainly pastoral systems

0.00

0.50

1.00

1.50

2.00

2.50

3.00

3.50

4.00

Maize (Zea mays) Watermelon (Citrulluslanatus)

Ave

rage

are

a p

er

ho

use

ho

ld (

he

ctar

es

Veterinary services are commonly offered by Government.

Occasionally they fail to offer services due to lack of transportation. Livestock drugs are easily accessible to farmers in local retail

outlets. The government owned AI camps are implementing a quota

system of insemination which limits the use by farmers who have large herds. Farmers who want the quota for cattle insemination per farmer to be increased.

Access to credit is difficult for elderly farmers of over 50 years old. However, the youths are given priority to access loans due a government policy empower the youth economically.

There is shortage of labour despite competitive wages that includes a monthly supply of groceries. Most labourers prefer part-time jobs.

Inputs and services in mixed-crop livestock systems

Quantity of feed purchased over a 12mth period

Mixed crop livestock systems

Lucerne (Medicago

sativa) - hay20%

SALT COARSE sodium chloride

8%

Sugarcane -molassesme

al7%

Diculcium Phosphate

7%

BEEF FINISHER

3%

Drought Pellets

19%

Sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum) - molasses

1%

Wheat (Triticum

aestivum) -bran14%

SALT COARSE

block1%

Sugarcane -molasses

block2%

Commerically mixed ration18%

Mainly pastoral systems

Sodium Chloride

(salt)34%

Phosphorus dicalcium

9%

Commerically mixed ration14%

Wheat (Triticum

aestivum) -bran35%

Sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum) - molasses

7%

Lucerne (Medicago

sativa) - hay1%

Crop residues

5%

Cultivated fodder

17%

Grazing55%

Naturally occurring

and collected

22%

Purchased1%

ME content of total diet

Dietary composition in mixed crop systems

Crop residues

6% Cultivated fodder

15%

Grazing57%

Naturally occurring

and collected

21%

Purchased

1%

DM content of total diet Crop

residues7%

Cultivated fodder

22%

Grazing47%

Naturally occurring

and collected

23%

Purchased

1%

CP content of total diet

Crop residues

13%

Cultivated fodder

0%

Grazing78%

Naturally occurring

and collected

4%

Purchased5%

ME content of total diet

Dietary composition in pastoral systems

Crop residues

13%

Cultivated fodder

0%

Grazing76%

Naturally occurring

and collected

3%

Purchased8%

DM content of total dietCrop

residues12%

Cultivated fodder

0%

Grazing74%

Naturally occurring

and collected

4%

Purchased10%

CP content of total diet

Available Feed Resources

Mixed crop livestock systems

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Ava

ilab

lity

Concentrates Crop residues

Grazing Green forage

Legume residues Others

Rainfall Pattern

Mainly pastoral systems

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Ava

ilab

lity

Concentrates Crop residues

Grazing Green forage

Legume residues Others

Rainfall Pattern

Study siteMajor Livestock Constraints

(In order of importance)1 2 3 4 5

JWANENG Water shortage Low meat prices Livestock disease

Unavailability of supplementary feeds

Poor quality grazing pastures

GHANZI Low meat pricesLabour shortages

Lack of machinery and skills to operate

Inaccessibility to markets and high costs of transport

Lack of artificial insemination service

HUKUNTSIPoor quality

(salty) water

Insufficient

grazing areas

Low market

price for cattle

at BMC

Livestock

diseases

Livestock

predators

TSABONG

Overgrazed

communal

grazing areas

Poor quality

(salty) water

Long distance to

Markets

Livestock

predators

Erratic

availability of

livestock feeds

in retail shops

MOCHUDI Water shortage Insufficient

feedsStock theft

Labour

Shortages

Frequent

disease

outbreaks

KANG Livestock theftLivestock

predators

Livestock

diseases

Low prices for

cattle at BMCHigh feed costs

MOLEPOLOLEOvergrazed

pastures5.

Lack of feed

processing

machinery

Bush problem

on uncultivated

land

Lack of market

for crop

residues

Unskilled labour

in farms

Develop strategies to improve natural pastures

Develop strategies to enhance utilization of crop residues and other local feed resources

Develop strategies to enhance access to and the water quality

Catalyze linkages amongst actors to improve availability of livestock feeds and feeding inputs in retail shops

Potential intervention

THANK YOU

The End