Assessment of Livestock Feed Resources and Coping Strategies with Dry Season Feed Scarcity in Mixed Crop–Livestock Farming Systems around the Gilgel Gibe Catchment, Southwest Ethiopia

Abstract

In the current study area, livestock are an integral part of the mixed farming system, and play very important roles as sources of draught power, nutrition, cash income, employment and poverty alleviation. However, feed shortage, especially during the dry season, is the most important constraint to optimal productivity. This study aimed to investigate livestock feed resources and feeding practices, coping strategies with seasonal scarcity, and to identify major constraints to livestock production in a mixed farming system around the Gilgel Gibe catchment, southwest Ethiopia. Data were collected from 342 households using a structured questionnaire. The results showed natural pasture, crop residues, stubble grazing, and roadside grasses were the main feed resources, in that order. None of the respondents practiced improved forage cultivation due to insufficient land and lack of knowledge on forage production and utilization. Free grazing was the most predominant feeding system. Almost all respondents experienced dry season feed scarcity. Conserving crop residues and hay, purchasing roughages, reducing herd size and renting grazing land were the major coping strategies to feed scarcity. The farmers’ perceived major constraints to livestock production were feed shortage, animal diseases, and low productivity of local breeds. Institutional, technical and technological interventions are suggested to alleviate the constraints to livestock production in mixed crop-livestock systems in the study area and outside with similar settings.

Constraints of Improved Forage Adoption in East Gojjam Zone, Ethiopia

“…17 Inadequate quality and quantity of animal feed, particularly in the dry period, is a highly significant factor that affects livestock production and productivity. 2 Most of the feed in the Ethiopian highlands is obtained from crop residue and natural pasture 4 which varied in quantity and quality throughout the year. The utilization of improved forage to animal feed is low that represents< 1% of the total feed offered to livestock.…”

“…13 Overgrazing and poor management practices favor the growth of invasive plant species causing a shift in the plant composition of pastoral grazing and decreasing their livestock carrying capacity. 26 Currently, the major feed sources for animals are crop residues, which have low digestibility and high fiber; as a result,the production and productivity of livestock decrease 4,13,23 which resulted in low productive and reproductive performance of livestock.…”

“…Thus, the production and utilization of improved forages can help to mitigate livestock feed shortages and to reduce pressure on natural pastures, support system substantially and enhance natural assets and system reliance. 4 Moreover, improved forage maintains continuous feed supply during scarcity period andalso provides protein rich more efficient quality feed than low-quality crop residues. 23 However, improved forage adoption is low in Ethiopia due to the highly increasing rate of the human population, which results in a shortage of land, awareness and skill gaps for farmers.…”

“…23 However, improved forage adoption is low in Ethiopia due to the highly increasing rate of the human population, which results in a shortage of land, awareness and skill gaps for farmers. 4,14 In the east Gojjam zone, inadequate quality and quantity of feed are the main constraints that affect the expansion and development of livestock production. In this zone, the dry matter feed production support satisfied only 68.25% of the maintenance requirement of animals.…”

Potentials of Moringa stenopetala foliage as livestock feed, Southern Ethiopia

“…However, the contribution of sub-sector to the agricultural sector in the country is very low (Jabbar et al, 2007;Negassa et al, 2011). The low productivity level of ruminant livestock is mainly as a result of various constraints that include inadequate nutrition, unimproved genetic resources, the prevalence of diseases and parasites, poor research, and extension services (Demeke et al, 2017;Welay et al, 2018;Duguma and Janssens et al, 2021). Among these constraints, the issues related to inadequacy in feeds in terms of quality and quantity is the most critical areas on the performance of livestock.…”