Goat research in Msinga

Transcription

1 Goat research in Msinga Prepared by Brigid Letty Work done on behalf of Mdukatshani Rural Development Trust PLAAS/MRDT Smallholder Research Workshop 11 September 2012

2 Provincial goat numbers MRDT staff counted all livestock at households within the area feeding into a particular diptank. Compared with official cattle registers Added other livestock types (goats, chickens) Then DAEA asked us to add donkeys, horses, dogs, cats

3 Mbazwana - KwaMahashi 15% of households Av flock: 9.98 Bergville Maphophomeni 53% of households Av flock: 8.39 Goat : Cattle ratios highly variable: 0.32:1 at Mbazwana to 5.7:1 at Nodada Msinga - Mhlangane 73% of households Av flock: Ixopo - Endlovini 61% of households Av flock: 8.33 Harding - Exhameni 26% of households Av flock: 8.36 Msinga - Nodada 82% of households Av flock: Msinga Top 53% of households Av flock: Msinga - Mathinta 68% of households Av flock: Port Shepstone - KwaMadlala 33% of households Av flock: 5.08 Umzumbe - Amadlalathi 48% of households Av flock: 7.08 Uthungulu - Inkunzane 64% of households Av flock: Uthungulu - Nhlngano 43% of households Av flock: 8.48

4 How to use the figures we have. Which diptanks are still outstanding? Empangeni Now that we have some numbers from various diptanks..how do we extrapolate to get reliable figures for the whole province? Can we work with what we have? What areas are represented by a particular diptank? Do we base this on vegetation and tenure? Can we calculate numbers based on census household figures combined with % households having goats and average flock sizes?

5 Baseline survey findings

6 Outcomes of survey Goat numbers 35 households Total of 865 goats (flocks with 3 87 goats) Kraaling practices 74% say goats are always kraaled 20% say never kraaled 6% sometimes come home (often not in winter) Herding no goats are herded, though some are collected (especially in winter when they travel further seeking food) Purchase of feed - 40% spend money on feed (including 1 person buying water) Purchase of health product - 91% spend money on inputs (commercial or traditional)

7 Deworming 29 (82.9%) dose their goats Mainly when they see signs (big stomach, diarrhoea, thin, etc) Tick control 20 (57.1%) control ticks in some way (plunge dip, dip in a bath / spray with dip, use Jeye s fluid, use Blue Death) Factor changing flock size % of households Sales 48.5% 41 Slaughter 77% 73 Traditional payments 20% 47 Theft 31% 59 No. of goats

8 Type of movement No. % of June 2010 total Goats moving out Mortalities % Sales % Slaughter % Payments % Theft % Goats moving in Purchases % Swapping % Lobola % Donation % In through birth % % of June 2010 total 16.34

9 Causes of mortalities Hunger (mentioned by 11) Lung-related illness (7) Diarrhoea (5) Heartwater / twisted neck (4) Sickness, water on the brain (impethu) (each mentioned 3 times) Accidental deaths (drowning in canal, hit by vehicle, hit by child) mentioned one each Other reasons (each mentioned once) included snake, burst gall (qhumenyongo), limping, giving birth, nasal discharge, dogs and mange. Perceptions of flock size changing 34.3% said flocks were increasing (some said this was slow) 60% said flocks not increasing (decreasing or unchanging)

10 Current research: Factors impacting on goat production Key objective: The focus of the study is on understanding factors that are responsible for the limited growth shown by household goat flocks in Msinga Local Municipality in order to be able to make recommendations regarding interventions that could improve the efficiency of production and offtake of animals.

11 Goat movements: energy expenditure How far do they go? How do distances vary between summer and winter? What key resources do goats access during drought periods?

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13 Goat movements initial findings Goats left kraal at 09:00, returned at 13.00, hung around and finally got back at 17:00 Kraal 14:00-15:00 height above kraal ~0 m; tot. dist. travelled ~3.7 km 16:00 height above kraal ~10 m; total dist travelled ~4.5 km 12:00-12:30 height above kraal ~75 m; total dist travelled ~2.5 km 09:35 height above kraal ~75 m; total dist. travelled ~1.4 km 10:00-11:30 height above kraal ~150 m; tot. dist. travelled ~1.8 km

14 Impacts of movements on vegetation The piosphere effect

15 Resource availability for goats How do we quantify available feed resources? How do we take into account effect of phenology? Is it about what food (mainly grass) is available in winter rather than what s available in summer? Considering three villages where flocks are being monitored on a monthly basis: Ngubo, Ncunjane, Jolwayo

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17 Resource availability: browse Tot tree density Avg tree density Browse units/ha Avg browse units/ha Ngubo Acacia Broadleaves Houses 0 0 Ncunjane Acacia Broadleaves Houses 0 0 Jolwayo Acacia Broadleaves Houses 0 0

18 Resource availability: grass Village Reserve Rel area Ave height Ngubo bank Weighted av height (cm) Ngubo nonbank Ncunjane bank Ncunjane nonbank Jolwayo bank Jolwayo nonbank

19 Development of local ration options for winter

20 Some on-farm R&D at Msinga MRDT is working with farmers to investigate ways to process and store stover, improve utilisation and improve animal production (through reduced kid mortalities)

21 Stover at the irrigation scheme at Tugela Ferry is burnt Why are people obsessed with keeping their fields clean? Did they learn it from commercial farmers? Did they learn it from extension officers?

22 Ewe supplementation Fed early gestation starting in April, added ewes as they kidded up til May fed through winter (up til end Sept) Compared two kraals of Mr Muthwa Compared kid growth, ewe condition and mortalities

23 How can we store the stover? To protect against termites, livestock, weather and so on?

24 And now suddenly the value is recognised (again) by farmers

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26 Are there Opportunities for integrating the youth and people without land or livestock into the sector through processing of maize stover?

27 Outcomes of pilot trial Condition did not respond to feeding levels why? Kid growths did not not appear to be improved perhaps because unsupplemented kid group were actually being grazed in a camp which we were not aware of

28 Weight (Kg) A B C D 12 E G F H I J 10 K L M N O P 8 Q S R T U V 6 W X AA BB 4 CC EE DD FF GG HH 2 II KK JJ LL MM NN Age (Days) OO QQ SS PP RR

29 Condition scores Ewes Average condition score: July Average condition score: August Supplemented Unsupplemented

30 Proposed crop-livestock interaction work Quantify the extent to which fields are unused Understand why lands lie fallow Undertake action research to address institutional issues (e.g. deteriorating social rules) and technical issues (e.g. declining soil fertility)