Cattle production and utilisation in smallholder farming systems in Southern Mozambique

4gricultural Systems 37 (1991) 55-75

Cattle Production and Utilisation in Smailhoider Farming Systems in Southern Mozambique

Antonio Rocha, a Paul Starkey b* & Antonio C. Dionisio a

a Instituto de Producao Animal, CP 1410, Maputo, Mozambique b Centre for Agricultural Strategy, University of Reading, Reading RG6 2AT, UK

(Received 30 January 1990; accepted 5 April 1991)

ABSTRACT

Results are presented of the diagnostic phase of a study of the 'traditional' smallholder system of cattle production in southern Mozambique. Data were obtained over an 18-month period from 944 cattle, belonging to 49families. A high proportion (20%) of the cattle maintained were work oxen, and overall 25% of all cattle were used for work. All farmers in the survey employed draught animals, mainly for ploughing, and also for transport using simple sledges. A positive relationship was noted between herd size and area ploughed Hiring of work animals was common. Most (83%) farmers milked their animals during the rainy season. Little difference was found between the overall rates of calving (49%) and mortality (8.4%) recorded in the studied herds and those reported from the commercial ranching sector. While the off-take of animals and meat in the traditional sector appeared slightly below that of the commercial sector, the widespread use of draught animals, together with the consumption of milk, suggests that overall productivity is higher in the traditional systems. The limited number of watering places combined with the farmers'practise of daily watering appeared to lead to overgrazing in some areas and undergrazing in others. Little use is made of crop residues, and farmers argued that improved access to ox-carts wouM encourage conservation of residues for dry season feeding.

I N T R O D U C T I O N

M o z a m b i q u e is the c o u n t r y o f sou the rn Afr ica tha t is mos t affected by trypanosomiasis, transmitted by tsetse fly, and overall n u m b e r s o f f a rm

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. 55

Agricultural Systems 0308-521X/91/$03.50 © 1991 Elsevier Science Publishers Ltd, England. Printed in Great Britain

56 Antonio Rocha, Paul Starkey, Antonio C. Dionisio

animals are very low relative to the size of the country. Cattle are con- centrated in the southern provinces where tsetse challenge is lowest. The national cattle herd is estimated to be 750000. Most (87%) of these are owned by the traditional smallholder sector, and reared in sedentary mixed-farming systems.

The off-take of the smallholder sector through the official outlets is low and has been estimated at between 0.4 and 1-4% (Dionisio, 1985). Official sources have generally considered the productivity of the livestock subsystem of smallholders to be very low. This perception has had a negative influence on investment policies, development efforts and research programmes relating to the traditional cattle sector of Mozam- bique. Since people working in other countries have found that the overall productivity of cattle in smallholder systems can be high (Cruz de Carvalho, 1974; Behnke, 1985; de Ridder & Wagennar, 1986; Wilson 1986a,b), it was considered important to reassess the productivity of cattle within the smallholder sector in Mozambique.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Area

The study area is located around Mazimechopes Research Station (24 ° 47' S; 32 ° 51' E; see Fig. 1). The survey included three out of the four settlements existing in a radius of 10 km around the Research Station. Two of the settlements are located on the left bank of the Mazimechopes river (Nungo and Marien N'Guabi villages) and one on the right bank (Motaze village). The former two villages are located in the Gaza province (Chokwe district), and the latter in the Maputo province (Magude district). Maputo and Gaza, (the two most southerly provinces) have the highest number of cattle in the country. The districts of Magude and Chokwe are among the most important districts in respect to concentration of cattle reared by the traditional sector. Magude was also the province with the highest number of beef cattle reared by the commercial ranching sector.

Climate and vegetation

The climate of the study area is subtropical, with a monomodal rainfall pattern. November-February is the rainy season, March-July is the early dry season, and June-October the late dry season, but the rainfall pattern tends to be irregular. Data collected at Mazimechopes Research

Cattle utilisation & southern Mozambique 57

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Map of southern Mozambique with the location of the study area (insert shows location of Mozambique relative to African continent).


Station for the last eight years indicated an average rainfall for the area of 503 mm, with a range of 210-710 mm. The annual mean temperature for the area is 23.3°C, with a mean maximum (December/January) of 30.0°C and a mean minimum (June/July) of 16.6°C, and an average relative humidity of 69.7% (figures derived from 28 years of readings from Chobela Research Station, 30 km south of the area). The area of study has been classified as high- to very-high-risk for rainfed agriculture (Reddy, 1986). The vegetation is of the savanna type, with shrubs and trees of the genus Acacia and grasses such as Themeda trianda, Urochloa pullulans, Panicum maximum, Digitaria spp. and Eragrostis spp. Large areas have been cleared for cropping, and other areas are affected by intense bush encroachment.

Social and economic environment

The people in the area lived in communal villages, each served by a pri- mary school, a medical post and a few shops. The three villages had a total population of about 12 000 people. The cattle-owning families included in the survey included a total of 315 resident adults and children. It was government policy that people be gathered in communal villages, and in recent years this process was greatly accelerated by the sponta- neous movements of the farmers themselves. The farmers previously lived in isolated homesteads but as the security situation in the country deteriorated they moved to the communal villages. At the time of the survey, the security situation in the study area was not sufficiently serious to change life overtly.

Crop production and cattle rearing are the dominant economic activities of the area. Clearing the land for crop production, and then ploughing it with cattle, is work traditionally done by men. Women have the responsibility for the other operations such as planting and weeding. During work peaks (such as harvest time), all the available family members work in the crop fields. Grazing cattle are often supervised by children, although this activity may conflict with school attendance.

There are limited job opportunities in the area. The Mazimechopes Research Station employs about 70 men (one of whom was included in the survey). Better work prospects exist in a large irrigation scheme located around the agricultural town of Chokwe, 25 km north of the study area, and some members of the families studied worked there. The study area also has a long-standing tradition of men migrating to work in the mines of the Republic of South Africa, and remittances of money and goods from South Africa have an important impact within the studied communities.

Cattle utilisation in southern Mozambique 59

At the time of the survey, the state livestock marketing company, Gapecom, was responsible for the marketing of the cattle in the traditional sector. There were no restrictions on the class of cattle that could be sold to this company, and the demand for beef and draught oxen in Chokwe appeared to be greater than the prevailing supply. At the time of the survey, cattle owners were allowed to use part of the money obtained from Gapecom to buy goods that were in short supply in the local market, such as bicycles and bicycle parts, batteries, radios, lamps and clothes.

Cattle

All cattle were of the N'Guni native breed (Sanga type) known as 'Landim' in Mozambique. The three villages studied had a total of about 6000 cattle and, of these, 944 (16%) were included in the study. The 944 head belonged to 49 families: 10 families in Motaze village (358 cattle), 22 farmers from Nungo village (233 cattle) and 17 families from Marien N'Guabi (353) cattle.

Cattle generally grazed during the day on communal grazing land, and were corraled at night. There was no separation of the cattle by age or sex, either in the corral or in the pasture. Males were generally castrated at the age of 2-3 years when they started to be trained for draught work. All working cattle were used in pairs.

The government veterinary services provided free weekly acaricide dipping, and compulsory vaccinations against brucellosis, anthrax and blackleg.

In the study area, cattle are individually owned by the head of the family. However, some complex types of mixed-ownership and 'borrow- ing rights' do exist. One of the most important social functions of cattle is their use as part of the bride price (locally known as lobolo) whereby the groom (or his family) gives cattle to the parents of the bride.

Crop production

Maize is the main crop in the area, being intercropped with several types of beans, cassava, groundnuts, pumpkins, water melons and sweet potato. A slash and burn, bush-fallow cropping system is used: the same plot is cultivated for two to three years, after which a new area is cleared for cropping. No chemical fertiliser is applied. Low and irregular rainfall has been cited as the main problem to maize production in this part of the country (Nunes et al., 1985). In addition to the main field crops, sweet potato and cassava are grown in small, manually cultivated 'kitchen' gardens near the house.


The main fields are almost invariably ploughed using cattle. Even families that do not own cattle tend to use work animals, either by borrow- ing them from relatives or by renting them. Nevertheless, some families are unable to obtain the use of cattle for ploughing.

Data collection

A preliminary survey, involving 10 families, was carried out for three months in order to assess the structure and methodology of the survey and to determine the practical implications of the data collection envis- aged. At the beginning of the major survey, a general questionnaire was administered to obtain information on the main factors influencing the local production system including the perceptions of the owner in relation to constraints to cattle production, the location of grazing areas and watering points during the dry and rainy seasons, the number and classes of cattle owned per family, the animal traction equipment owned, the types of crops produced, the size of the family and the age and occupa- tion of its members. A second questionnaire was administered monthly. In this, data were collected on calving and mortality, cattle draught operations, supplementary feeding and other management practises, animal health problems and activities (diseases and treatments, vaccinations, acaricide dipping) and marketing activities (animals bought, sold and traded). The monthly recording included a visit to the corrals to appraise animal condition, and this allowed a cross-check to be made on the information the farmers had provided on the births, deaths, sales and purchases that had taken place in the month preceding the visit.

The age of the animals was based on information supplied by the owner, with some cross-checking by examination of the teeth. The genital organs of 12 bulls and 51 cows were clinically examined. Cattle were classified as follows:

Calves: animals of both genders up to one year of age Young bulls: entire males from one to three years of age Heifers: nulliparous females, above one year and less than three

years of age Cows: females over three years old and/or females with at least

one parturition Oxen: castrated males, usually more than two years of age Bulls: entire males over three years old

Grazing areas and watering points were visited at least monthly and as- sessments were made of the status of the pasture. Distances walked by cattle were measured by following the herds on a motorcycle. Areas

Cattle utilisation m southern Mozambique 61

ploughed using animal traction were measured three months after the start of the rainy season. Ploughing commenced at the beginning of the first rains. For 23 pairs of oxen, the number of working hours were cal- culated from weekly information given by the owners.

Only data derived from the 12-month period of the main survey were considered for calculating the calving rates, mortality, off-take and output of the system. This allowed comparisons to be made with similar parameters in the commercial ranching sector where indices are calcu- lated on a 12-month basis.

During the survey period from September 1986 to February 1988, several informal discussions were held with each individual farmer concerning the data being collected. At the end of the survey, a group meeting was held with all the farmers to debate the implications and interpreta- tions of the main results and to discuss possible means to solve the problems highlighted.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The herd structure at the beginning of the survey (Table 1) shows high numbers of oxen and cows, and this suggests that animal traction and calf and/or milk production are important features in this system.

At the beginning of the survey, the mean number of cattle per family was 19.5, with very few families owning more than 30 animals (Table 2). This average of 19-5 animals per family is higher than the mean number of cattle per family found for the traditional sector of the provinces of Maputo and Gaza in 1973 (11-2 and 9.4, respectively; Dionisio, 1985). The number of cattle kept in other mixed-farming systems in southern Africa is variable, with an average of 6 animals kept by agropastoralists

TABLE 1 Number and Percentage of Animals of Different Classes

at the Start of the Survey

Class Number %

Calves 97 10.3 Young bulls 88 9.3 Heifers 162 17.2 Cows 344 36.4 Oxen 195 20.7 Bulls 58 6-1

Total 944 100.0


TABLE 2 Relative Herd Sizes of the Cattle Owned by the 49

Families Surveyed

No. of animals No. of herds %

0-10 23 47 11-20 11 23 21-30 8 16 31-40 1 2 41-50 2 4 51-60 1 2 61-70 1 2 71-80 0 0 81-90 1 2 91-100 1 2

in Transkei (Bembridge, 1987) and 16 cattle per household in Botswana (Mtetwa, 1982).

Overnight corraling is a common practise throughout the year. Only four farmers (8%) reported that they sometimes left their animals to graze freely at night in search of pasture during the dry, winter months.

Taking data for the whole year, the average distance walked by the herds each day was 12.6 kin. The longest distances were covered during the dry season: with average distances of 16, 24 and 12 km respectively walked by the herds of Nungo, Marien N'Guabi and Motaze villages. In the rainy season these average distances were 6, 12 and 6 kin, respectively. The main reason for the increased distances walked during the dry season was a decrease in the number of operational watering points, combined with overgrazing around corrals and the available watering points. This forced cattle to cover longer distances in order to drink and graze. Unlike the Borana of southern Ethiopia (a much drier area) that considered it necessary to water their cattle only every third day (Nicholson, 1986; Cossins & Upton, 1987), all farmers in the survey considered it important that cattle drank water daily. This daily watering imposed effective limits to the distances from the water holes that could be covered each day and by the end of the dry season large areas were overgrazed. Cattle thus lost condition during the dry season, despite the fact that further away from the watering points there was abundant standing hay, left untouched.

Only four farmers (8%) practised forced weaning of calves at the age of 10-12 months, using nose plates locally made from thorn branches. Since the lactation length of N'Guni cows at Chobela Research Station averaged only 139 days (Pinho Morgado, 1954), it seems likely that most N'Guni calves would be effectively weaned by 10 months of age.


TABLE 3 Types of Herdsmen Utilised

No. of cattle %

Children 25 60 Professional herdsmen 14 33 Professional herdsmen and children 2 5 Adult members of the family 1 2

Nineteen farmers (39%) provided some supplementary feed in addition to the natural grazing. Thirteen farmers (29%) provided only maize stover and/or failed maize crops; four other farmers in addition to maize stover also cut some grass for feeding to the cattle at night in the corral. One farmer kept rice straw (from a nearby commercial farm) to be fed later in the dry season. Some other farmers argued against giving crop residues and/or crop supplements; they considered that this might 'train' cattle to raid crops. Owners of offending cattle can be forced by local courts to give one animal to the farmer whose crops are damaged.

For 42 families, it was possible to clearly determine the type of man- power used for cattle tending (Table 3). Children provided most (60%) of the labour for herding. Professional herdsmen are also important in the area, and supervised a third of all herds. Unlike professional herdsmen, neither children nor adult members of the family receive financial payment for their work.

Milk production

Milk is an important commodity in this system. Forty (83%) of the 43 farmers owning cows milked them. It has been reported that in two other sedentary mixed-farming systems in southern Africa, smaller proportions of farmers milk their cows: 46% in Mashonaland, Zimbabwe, and 60% in Transkei, Republic of South Africa (Bembridge, 1987; Perry et al., 1987). In this survey, all farmers that milked their animals only did so during the rainy season. The farmers considered that during the dry winter months the cows produce low quantities of milk, barely enough for the needs of their own calves. Most likely the seasonal calving pattern, (with most parturitions taking place late in the dry season, and early in the rainy season) also influences this seasonal milking period. Similar seasonal milk production (associated with rainfall patterns and conse- quential changes in the quantity and quality of the natural pasture) has been noted in several countries, including Sudan, Mali and Ethiopia (Nicholson, 1984; Wilson, 1985; Kerven, 1987).


In none of the cases was milk marketed. Milk collection schemes were introduced in the 1950s to enable the traditional sector to supply urban centres (Santana & Vilhena, 1952), but these schemes were short-lived and no formal marketing structure now operates in the study area. Milk was sometimes consumed entirely within the family (38% of the house- holds) but commonly some milk was given to neighbours. Milk was generally consumed after some acidification but the drinking of fresh milk was not uncommon, especially by the children who milked the cows whilst herding the cattle.

In this survey, no accurate measurements of overall milk yields were obtained. With one milking per day, individual daily production ranged from 6 litres to half a litre. In controlled conditions at Chobela Research Station, N'Guni cows produced an average of 572 litres per lactation, with lactation length averaging 139 days (Pinho Morgado, 1954). Under such conditions, individual yields as high as 1973 litres per lactation have been recorded (Rosinha, 1963). In Botswana, cows of the Tswana breed (a Sanga breed very similar to the N'Guni) produced 98-475 litres (mean 275 litres) for human consumption (APRU, 1985), and the authors be- lieve that N'Guni cows in southern Mozambique have comparable levels of production.

Animal traction and crop-livestock interactions

The herd composition data suggests that a large number of male animals are retained, and this is reflected in the very widespread use of animal power for ploughing and transport. Table 4 lists the type of equipment used for animal traction and illustrates the widespread use of oxen and draught animals.

Forty-eight out of the 49 families owned at least one pair of draught animals. Draught animals were always used in pairs. The renting out

TABLE 4 Type of Equipment Used for Animal Traction

Equipment No. of farmers % (of49 farmers)

Plough 48 98 Harrow 1 2 Ox-cart 6 12 Sledge 46 94 Rolling barrel adapted for

carrying water 5 10


TABLE 5 Rental of Draught Animals

Type No. of farmers % (of48 farmers)

Not renting 27 56 Renting from others 6 13 Renting to others 9 19 Renting to and from others 6 12

of draught animals was a common practise (Table 5). Such hiring of animals is also common in other countries and has been reported from Botswana, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Togo and Zimbabwe (Gollifer, 1984; Blench, 1987; Gboku, 1988; Zinyama, 1988, Amegbeto, 1989). Hiring has been considered important in enabling both the costs and the benefits of animal traction to be shared between owners and non-owners (Starkey, 1990).

Considerable differences between the areas cultivated in the two years were apparent but no clear explanation was found for this. However, some farmers considered that in the second crop season (1987) the rainfall pattern was more favourable to crop production than in the previous year. Larger areas of land were cultivated by the farmers who owned more animals (Table 6). No data were collected on areas cultivated by farmers not owning draught animals, but it was noted that several families not owning cattle only cultivated a 'kitchen' garden. In such cases, some of the household members were usually involved in off-farm work, either locally (sometimes as herdsmen for others) or in Chokwe village and its surrounding commercial farms. Relationships between use of animal traction and cultivated area have been found in many countries in Africa including Burkina Faso, Ghana, Mali, Sierra Leone, Togo and

TABLE 6 Relationship Between Numbers of Draught Animals Owned and Area Ploughed.

No. of work animals Mean ploughed area (ha) No. of farmers owned

1986 1987 1986 1987

1-2 1.1 2-4 18 10 3-5 1-9 4-6 13 15 6-9 3.6 4.1 9 9 Over 9 2-9 6-0 3 5

Total number of farmers with crop area measured 43 39

a Measurements of area were taken three months after the beginning of the rains.


Zambia (Barrett et al., 1982; Allagnat & Koroma, 1984; Francis, 1988; Westneat et al., 1988; Panin, 1989; Sangar6 & Traor6, 1990). In one survey in Botswana, owners of cattle were found to have cultivated, on average, 70% more land than farmers that relied on borrowed or rented cattle (Mtetwa, 1982). Although it may be tempting to interpret these in terms of cause and effect (owning more animals provides more power to farm more land), in reality interactions are likely to be complex (for example, richer farmers who cultivate more land may be able to afford more cattle). Nevertheless, Sargent et al., (1981), Jahnke, (1982), Mcln- tire and Gryseels (1987) and Starkey (1990) reviewed data from many studies and concluded that there was strong evidence to suggest that animal traction does indeed result in a significant increase in cultivated area. However, these same authors concluded that the effect of animal traction on productivity per unit of area was more controversial. There have been reports of lower yields per unit of area as a result of animal ploughing in Zambia (Francis, 1988) and higher as a result of animal ridging in Ghana (Panin, 1989). The survey reported here did not collect data that would allow relationships to be established between animal traction, area and total production, but data from elsewhere have shown that increased cultivated areas due to the utilisation of animal power result in large overall quantities of crops being produced (Barrett et al., 1982; Francis, 1988; Westneat et al., 1988; Panin, 1989; Sangar6 & Traor6, 1990).

A total of 231 animals were used for work, which represents 25% of the total herd. Oxen were the main work animals, but 37% of the bulls (21 animals) and 4% of the cows (14 cows) were also employed. Farmers explained that bulls were generally used when there was a shortage of oxen. Farmers reported that females chosen for animal traction were either sterile cows, or cows that had not reared their calf properly. When no other animals were available, farmers would sometimes be forced to work with cows of normal fertility and mothering ability, even though they believed that the use of such cows for traction would depress fertility and milk production.

Oxen started working early in the morning (between 5 and 6 a.m.) and worked an average of 3.7 h (SD = 0.5 h) per team per day. This amount of work is comparable to that reported from Sierra Leone (Starkey, 1981), but lower than the 5-6 h day worked in Mali (Wilson, 1986b) and the 5-8 h reported from Ethiopia (Goe, 1987). The 23 pairs of oxen studied worked an average of 62 days in a year (SD -- 13.2), which is comparable to figures reported from other countries in sub-Saharan Africa (Starkey, 1988). All the farmers referred to weakness of the animals at the beginning of the rainy season (after the long dry season) as the main constraint to animal traction.


No measurements were made of the loads carried by oxen, but transport is important in the system. Farm produce and firewood is carried mainly on sledges and to a lesser extent on carts; water is carried on sledges, carts and rolling barrels and people are transported in the few carts that exist in the area. Transport of water and firewood is particularly useful for women since it is they who are traditionally responsible for water and firewood collection. During the dry season animals may transport water distances of 12 km between watering points and villages (a 24 km return trip). Transport operations continue all through the year, which keeps the animals in training and contributes to the social and economic profitability of the animals used for work. In the area there is an intense demand for ox-carts (and also for empty barrels to adapt as rolling barrels). The low number of carts and rolling barrels in use was attributed to the fact that there was a great shortage of axles, wheels and empty barrels. The farmers said that given the choice they would prefer steel-wheel carts to those with pneumatic tyres due to the difficulties in getting punctures repaired. However, when the research station offered sets of axles and steel wheels at a price equivalent to US$290, farmers considered them too expensive to purchase.

Other crop-livestock interactions

Only three out of the 49 farmers used cattle manure on their crops. Two applied manure collected in the corral. A third constructed a paddock of about 0-25 ha and used this as a corral for one year before using the land for maize production. There are several reports on the use of manure as fertiliser in African mixed-farming systems, and it has been suggested that the higher the intensity of land use, the more intense manure utilisation and the smaller the agricultural plots tend to be (McIntire & Gryseels, 1987; Pingali et al., 1987). In the studied area there is not a shortage of land but the soils tend to be sandy. All the farmers in the survey considered that fertilisation with manure was very beneficial but the benefits did not justify the time and labour needed to carry large quantities of manure from night corrals to distant fields. Farmers stressed that ox-carts which are capable of carrying much greater loads than sledges, could make the transport of manure worthwhile.

One of the most positive interactions between crop growing and cattle rearing in mixed-farming systems, is the use of crop residues as cattle feed. Jahnke (1982) reviewed several studies and concluded that crop residues contributed significantly to the diet of livestock in Africa. How- ever, in this survey only 19 farmers (39%) fed crop residues to their cattle. It should be noted that after the main maize harvest in February


and March the natural pastures are still in good condition. When nutrition is most critical (October-December), no significant quantities of crop residues remain. During discussions, the farmers considered that the development of a system for collecting and keeping crop residues for the dry season was possible, but they stressed the need for ox-carts to transport the large volume of crop residues.

Animal health

All owners took advantage of the free vaccination and tick control dipping programmes. Six herds (12%) were dipped only on alternate weeks. One farmer dipped his cattle on alternate weeks during winter, and on a weekly basis during summer, when the tick infestation is heavier. One study suggested that if ticks of Amblyomma sp. are removed by oint- ments or by hand from key areas, such as the scrotum and udder, the frequency of dipping can be reduced (Jacobsen, 1985). No farmers drenched to control internal parasites. Few conventional treatments were applied, partly due to the fact that there was a chronic shortage of conventional medicines, and most farmers could not afford the prices of the ones available. On the other hand, 27 farmers (55%) used traditional medicines to treat a diverse array of pathologies including otites, kerato- conjunctivitis, wounds, calf diarrhoea, skin diseases and uterine hypotonia.

Fertility

Most farmers bred their own replacement animals, but during the period of study 11 heifers, 10 cows, 2 oxen and 1 bull were bought by farmers. During a 12-month period, the 344 cows present at the beginning of the survey produced 169 live calves (49%), with a maximum of 53% at Nungo village and a minimum of 46% in Motaze. It should be noted that this calving rate was obtained after successive years of drought. This calving rate is lower than that of the commercial sector in southern Mozambique before independence (55-65%), but higher than the 35% calving rate regis- tered for the state farms after independence (Dionisio, 1985). This later low percentage has to be viewed with caution as high, and often unregis- tered, neonatal mortality masks the real calving rate in that sector (Rocha, 1985). While the results of this survey cannot be directly com- pared with figures from traditional farming systems elsewhere in Africa, it may be noted that it is not unusual to find calving rates similar to, or in- ferior to, those reported here (Wilson & Clarke, 1976; Pullan, 1979; Musisi & Cizyuka, 1986; de Ridder & Wagennar, 1986; Bembridge, 1987).

Most parturitions (69%) observed during the 12-month period took


place from August to January as a result of conceptions during the rainy season (November-April). From February to June only 52 cows calved as a result of conception in the dry season. Seasonal calving is generally attributed to changes in body condition resulting from the changes in the quality and quantity of pasture during the year, which in turn depend on the rainfall pattern. In neighbouring Swaziland, increased conception rates of N'Guni cows during the rainy season was most marked on the 'sour' pastures of the high veld (Butterworth, 1983). In Mali, Wilson (1985) noted a statistically significant positive relationship between rainfall and conception date in sedentary cows. In Northern Nigeria, Zakari et al. (1981) found that in the dry season oestrus periods were fewer and oestrus was of shorter duration than the sexual cycles in the rainy season; a similar result was found in Zambia, where cows showed a tendency to go into anoestrus at the end of the dry season (Rakha & Igboeli, 1971).

The epididymitis-vaginites syndrome (Epivag) has been considered to be one of the greatest constraints to good fertility in the commercial beef cattle sector of southern Mozambique which utilises exotic cross-bred animals (Rocha et al., 1986). None of the 12 bulls and 51 cows clinically examined in this survey presented the typical symptoms of the syndrome. In the Republic of South Africa, Van Rensburg (1953) found that native cattle were much more resistant to Epivag than exotic cattle.

The relatively low levels of reproductive disorders noted suggest that reproductive diseases are not the main cause of low fertility. Furthermore, low fertility does not appear to be a genetic problem in the N'Guni breed, as in ranching conditions the breed displays high fertility (Scholtz, 1988; Dionisio & Syrstad, 1990). In other countries it has been found that nutritional level can be a key factor in determining fertility (Wilson, 1985), but this survey did not produce evidence for, or against, such a hypothesis.

Mortality

Forty of the 843 adult animals present at the beginning of the survey died in the 12-month period of the main survey; this was an annual adult mortality of 4-7%. At the start of the survey there were 97 calves, and 169 were born in a 12-month period. Of this total of 226 calves, 54 died, which gives an estimated annual calf mortality rate of 20%. Most of the mortality was neonatal.

The high rate of mortality of calves identified in this survey is not atypical of African traditional systems (Musisi & Cizyuka, 1986; Bembridge, 1987; Cossins & Upton, 1987). Low consumption of milk by the calves, either due to low milk production of the dam or due to human competition, has

70 Antonio Rocha, Paul Starkey, Antonio C. Dion&io

TABLE 7 Mortality Rate for the Different Classes in One Year a

Class Number Mortality Range between villages b

Maximum Minimum ~ %) (%)

Young bulls 88 6 6-8 7.9 4.3 Heifers 162 8 4.9 5-8 3.6 Cows 344 13 3.8 8.4 1.6 Oxen 195 11 5.6 11.6 3.6 Bulls 58 2 3.4 6.3 0.0 Total adults 847 40 4.7 7.5 3-2

Calves, 226, 54 23.8 23.0 16.9

Overall total 1 113 94 8-4

12-month period following the start of the survey. b Mortality rate was computed, based on the 97 calves at the beginning of the survey plus 169 born during the survey. ~ Average for total number of animals considered in the study for each village.

been cited as a reason for high calf mortality (Wilson & Clarke, 1976; Nicholson, 1984; Wilson, 1986b; Cossins & Upton, 1987). In the farming system studied here, there was a high level of milk consumption by humans. However, the type of data collected did not allow an assessment of the impact of milk consumption by humans on calf mortality.

The overall 8.4% annual mortality rate is broadly similar to the 7% annual mortality rate found in the commercial sector for the years 1974-1983 (Dionisio, 1985). For 24 of the 40 adult animals that died, it was possible to obtain information on the cause of death: 13 (54%) deaths were attributed to general weakness (poor nutrition or nutrition disease interactions); 6 (25%) animals were killed by land mines (a cattle herd broke a fence protecting a mined area under a railway bridge); 2 cows (8%) died during dystocic parturitions; 2 animals were poisoned by snakes or plants and one animal broke a leg. Thirty-two animals (80%) died during the dry season period, supporting the idea that the main cause of mortality of adult animals may be related to poor nutrition and related stress during the dry season. In addition to the losses by mortality, 10 adult animals were stolen during the period of study.

Off-take and productivity

In relation to the initial herd of 944 animals, the off-take (considered as


the number of animals traded, sold and consumed) was 92 animals (9.8%). As the overall number of animals decreased by 17, the growth index of the herd was -1 .8% (calculations based on animals born minus deaths and off-take only, with purchases and theft not included in this index). Combining these two, the overall off-take could be considered to be 8% (9.8-1.8%).

For 77 of the 92 animals traded, sold and consumed it was possible to obtain the exact information of their destination: 31 animals (40%) were traded for cereals with farmers from areas that had better harvests (mainly from the Chokwe irrigation scheme and Josina Island to the south), 24 were sold for cash (mainly to a commercial rancher and to a lesser extent to the state livestock marketing company), 6 (8%) were traded for various goods, 11 (14%) were consumed locally (some for socio-religious ceremonies), 3 were given to the herdsmen as payment for their work, and 2 were surrendered as fines, one for damage of crops and one for adultery. The high number of animals traded for cereals suggests that cattle can be an important indirect source of basic nutrition when subsistence crop production is insufficient to cover the family needs.

The output of the system (considered here as the animals that left the herds of the surveyed farmers, and were not consumed by the farm families) accounted for 8.5% of the total herd numbers. This is less than the 11% off-take estimated for the commercial ranching sector (Dionisio, 1985).

The type of data collected in this survey does not allow a precise meas- urement of productivity, defined as ratio of output to input (Upton, 1989). Most 'productivity' measurements relating to the commercial ranching system in the country had also been incomplete, based on annual off-take (number of animals sold in a 12-month period), calving percentage and mortality rates. More recently, it was estimated that the beef production per animal per year in commercial state ranches varied from 14.8 to 28.4 kg for the years 1981-1984 (Dionisio, 1985). Beef production is not the best index to compare the two systems, as it is evident that meat is not the only output of the traditional livestock sector. Neverthe- less, it is apparent that the traditional sector achieved a higher calving rate than the commercial ranching sector, and its off-take was not markedly different. Moreover, the cattle of the traditional sector provided milk, cultivation and transport. Taking into account the known production indexes in both sectors, and the multipurpose cattle utilisation in the traditional sector, there is insufficient evidence to support the widely held idea that the commercial beef cattle sector of the country is more productive than the studied traditional livestock system.


CONCLUSIONS

The results of this survey should only be viewed as general indicators of the performance of the livestock system in the study area; more detailed data collected over several seasons would be required to make firm conclusions concerning smallholder cattle productivity in southern Mozam- bique. Nevertheless, the survey information has indicated that there is an intense and diversified utilisation of cattle in the study area. The cattle subsystem provides more than subsistence production and permits significant trading, which can be important for the acquisition of cereals. The higher number of animals traded for cereals, and the high level of milk utilisation, may be associated with the poor and unreliable yields of the staple maize crop.

There was not a marked difference between calving and mortality rates between the herds studied and those of the commercial ranching sector. Although the off-take obtained by the traditional sector appears slightly below that of the commercial sector, the use of cattle for milk production and for draught work suggests the overall productivity of cattle may be higher in the traditional system.

High calf mortality and deficient nutrition during the dry season appear to be main constraints to achieving higher levels of cattle performance. Thus, interventions aimed at reducing these constraints may be appropriate. A programme to increase the number of watering points might reduce the nutritional stress during the dry season, by allowing a better utilisation of the existing natural pasture and by reducing the ener- getic losses due to excessive walking. A cost/benefit assessment of such an intervention would therefore seem to be justified, as would a study of the social and economic costs and benefits of watering cattle on alternate days. The development of techniques for preserving crop residues would be another means to reduce the nutritional stress of cattle during the dry season. The farmers' suggestions that ox-carts would assist both with the collection of residues and the transport of manures seem particularly ap- posite. Development agencies should therefore consider ways of facilitat- ing cart ownership, for example by improving the supply of axles or through credit provision.

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Documents

Cattle production and utilisation in smallholder farming systems in Southern Mozambique