Characterization of the goat feeding system among rural small holder farmers in the semi-arid regions of Uganda

Abstract

Goats (Capra hircus) are widely distributed in Africa and Asia, and are important to the subsistence and economic livelihoods of many people in these areas. The goat feeding system among rural small holder farmers in Buyende district (Uganda) was characterised by determining the goat rearing practices, feed resources fed on by goats and availability of browse species mentioned by small holder farmers. Data was gathered using ethnobotanical and ecological approaches. Results from the ethnobotanical survey revealed that farmers were rearing indigenous goat breeds that are managed by tethering in natural pastures during the rainy season but free ranging during the dry season (i.e. when no crops are susceptible of damage). Major challenges facing goat production in the study area were diseases, shortage of land and inadequate pastures. The reduction of grazing land due to crop farming, has led to tethering of animals which in turn leads to restricted feeding. Goats were known to feed on 48 plant species distributed in 18 families and 39 genera dominated by trees and shrubs. Browse species were known to stay longer in the dry season when the grass and herbaceous species were no longer available. The most frequently mentioned browse species were Ficus natalensis, Harrisonia abyssinica, Acalypha psilostachya, Artocarpus heterophyllus and Lantana camara while Panicum maximum and Impeata cylindrica were the most mentioned herbaceous species. 31 browse species were encountered in the ecological survey. These were dominated by Combretum molle, L. camara, A. zygia, M. indica, and Albizia coriaria. In conclusion, the rearing practices of goats in Buyende district are comprised of indigenous goats tethered in natural pastures especially browses which stay longer through the dry season. However, most of the preferred browses are rare according to the computed IVI (i.e. less than 30%).

Socio-economic Aspects of Goat Production in a Rural Agro-pastoral System of Uganda

“…The reduction of grazing land due to crop farming, leads to tethering of animals which in turn leads to restricted feeding. This is in turn aggravated by the poor quality feed resources in resource poor areas, which contributes to inadequate feeding and nutrition [8,16]. In this study, goats were fastened on one spot for most of the day, which may limit the quality and quantity of feed that they actually eat and this is likely to reduce their productivity.…”

“…Adaptive research and development based on the farmer participatory approach can lead to improved technologies including the use of fodder trees, shrubs and cactus, conservation through ensiling and the use of feed blocks [8]. Tethering is a common practice in areas where land and forage production is limiting [11,16]. The reduction of grazing land due to crop farming, leads to tethering of animals which in turn leads to restricted feeding.…”

Uzun süre farklı otlatma baskısında bir veya birden fazla hayvan türü ile otlatılan meraların bazı vejetasyon karakteristikleri (Durum çalışması: Zonguldak ili, Türkiye)

“…Also, it has been reported similar findings on rangelands in different regions of Turkey (Ünal et al, 2014;Yavuz et al, 2012;Çınar et al, 2014;Uzun et al, 2015;Seydoşoğlu et al, 2018). These results may be related to the fact that goats habitually spend more time grazing, including rangelands with high shrub species (Benavides et al, 2009;Ferreira et al, 2013;Nampanzira et al, 2015) and/or that the presence of cattle at different numbers can dramatically altered plant species composition (Read et al, 2011;Erkovan et al, 2016). Indeed, goats spent more daily time grazing on shrubland compared to sheep and cattle, which spent most of the time on the improved rangelands (Benavides et al, 2009;Ferreira et al, 2013;Nampanzira et al, 2015).…”

“…These results may be related to the fact that goats habitually spend more time grazing, including rangelands with high shrub species (Benavides et al, 2009;Ferreira et al, 2013;Nampanzira et al, 2015) and/or that the presence of cattle at different numbers can dramatically altered plant species composition (Read et al, 2011;Erkovan et al, 2016). Indeed, goats spent more daily time grazing on shrubland compared to sheep and cattle, which spent most of the time on the improved rangelands (Benavides et al, 2009;Ferreira et al, 2013;Nampanzira et al, 2015). Because animals in goat-mixed herds might spent a greater portion of their grazing time on shrub species compared those in monospecific groups (Benavides et al, 2009;Nampanzira et al, 2015;Uzun et al, 2015), the impact of the GP treatments on the studied parameters may be altered depending on the presence of goats in the MSG system.…”

Species of forages utilized by farmers producing halal goats in Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), Philippines

“…Forage assessment is an important consideration, especially in goat raising producing halal meat, since there is no available Halal certified feed concentrate. Moreover, backyard goat raisers commonly used locally available plant species as forage (Nampanzira et al 2015). The type of forage used for livestock production has nutritional and health implications.…”