Indigenous knowledge on the nutritional quality of urban and peri-urban livestock feed resources in Kampala, Uganda

Abstract

This study identified the indigenous criteria used by livestock farmers in urban and peri-urban areas of Kampala to assess the nutritional quality of available feed resources. Focus group discussions and questionnaire interviews (with a total of 120 livestock farming households) were conducted. The findings showed that banana peels, leftover food and own-mixed feeds were the most commonly used feed resources for cattle, pigs and chickens, respectively. Farmers use several indigenous criteria to judge the nutritional quality of the available feed resources. These included perceived effects on disease resistance, feed intake, growth/body condition, hair coat appearance, faecal output, faecal texture and level of production, among others. According to farmers, animals offered with a feed resource of good nutritional quality are more resistant to diseases, ingest much of the feed, gain weight with well-filled bodies, have smooth hair coats, produce large quantities of faeces that are not too firm or watery and exhibit good performance (lactating cows produce more milk, sows produce piglets of good body size, hens lay more eggs of normal size, etc.). Although this indigenous knowledge exists, farmers put more importance on availability and cost as opposed to nutritional quality when choosing feed resources. This explains why banana peels were among the feed resources perceived to be of low nutritional quality but, at the same time, were found to be the most commonly used. Hence, there is a need to sensitise farmers on the importance of nutritional quality in ensuring better and efficient utilisation of the available feed resources.

Vermicomposting as manure management strategy for urban small-holder animal farms – Kampala case study

“…In Kampala, the demand for livestock products have increased in recent years due to urbanisation, population growth and increased income (Lumu et al, 2013). However, high quality animal feed protein is expensive and hard to find (Katongole et al, 2012).…”

Knowledge Sovereignty among African Cattle Herders

“…In addition to these systemic differences, a true merger of knowledge systems is often considerably hampered by the practicalities of life in many places. Lumu, Katongole, Nambi-Kasozi et al (2013) explore the choices in feed made by livestock farmers in and near Kampala, Uganda. In this work, they unearth a vast wealth of indigenous knowledge pertaining to nutrition in various feed sources, and the health impacts feed choices will have on livestock.…”

“…(Katongole, Nambi-Kasozi, Lumu et al 2012, cited in Lumu et al 2013, 1571. This very real limitation of availability has led to banana peels (widely available from the markets) being reported as the most commonly used source of feed, despite a preference for almost anything else and an awareness 'that the practice compromises nutritional quality' (Lumu et al 2013(Lumu et al , 1577.…”

Feed resource utilization and dairy cattle productivity in the agro-pastoral system of South Western Uganda

“…Even on farms that reported use of banana peels, only a few cows were fed rather than the whole milking herd. Banana plant residues have been reported as important basal and supplementary feed for dairy cows in the tropics (Kimambo and Muya, 1991;Lumu et al, 2013). Previous studies have found that the dry matter digestibility of banana pseudo stems and fruit peelings were 59 and 61%, respectively (Kimambo and Muya, 1991), while crude protein of banana peels was 6% (Nambi-Kasozi et al, 2014), 7.9% (Aregheore and Ikhatua, 1999) and metabolisable energy was 8.7 MJ/kg of dry matter (Aregheore and Ikhatua, 1999).…”