Analysis of Dairy Farming Systems in the Sahelian Zone of Burkina Faso

Abstract

The insufficiency and variability of pasture production is a determining factor in milk production, particularly in the Sahelian zone. The objective of this study was to characterize dairy production systems and their relationship with crops to meet livestock needs. It consisted of surveys of 120 farmers in four communes in the Séno province. The results show three groups of dairy farmers that are essentially differentiated by the main activity and the sex of the farmers as well as the size of the cattle herd on the farm. The first group is made of male agropastoralists, with herds averaging 12 cattle. Group 2 consists of male agropastoralists with an average of 22 cattle. Group 3 consists of female pastoralists (96.15%), with a herd size of about 19 head. The cows are fed on pasture and supplemented with crop residues with cotton cake, which is more important in group 2, where more farmers have hayloft for fodder conservation and manure pits compared to the other two groups. Crop residues are used primarily as feed in all groups from January to May. This supplementation allows the maintenance of milk production in the dry season and group 2, with more dairy cows, records more milk milked (6.5 and 3.8 l) and consumed in wet and dry seasons compared to the other two groups. The results suggest that the farmers in the area have low technical level and need capacity building in agropastoral fields to improve their production.

Production Characteristics of Local Guinea Fowl (Numida Meleagris) in the Urban Commune of Tessaoua, Niger

“…This result corroborates that of Francis et al [5] in Cameroon, that of Kongue [6] in Togo and that of Floribert et al [7] in the Democratic Republic of Congo. However, in Burkina Faso poultry farming in general is a women's activity [8]. Fig.…”

Effet du fourrage de cultures de variétés améliorées à double objectif sur la production et la qualité du lait de bovin en zone sahélienne du Burkina Faso

“…Ce résultat reste légèrement inférieur à celui (1,7 L/jour) obtenu par Sib et al (2017) et Sissao et al (2016 dans des études menées dans la région Ouest du Burkina Faso et à celui de 1,89 L/jour rapporté par Kouamo et al (2017) avec des Zébus au Nord Cameroun. Cependant, la production laitière journalière est supérieure aux données (0,81 à 1,19 L/jour) rapportées par Sanon et al (2022) dans la même zone avec des vaches de race zébu peulh.…”