Livestock Feeds and Feeding in Semi-Arid Areas of Southern Africa

Mudzengi, Clarice P.; Dahwa, Everson; Kapembeza, Clayton Simbarashe

doi:10.5772/intechopen.90109

Cited by 7 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…This explains the high adoption of these species by livestock farmers in Kajiado County. The current study findings are also corroborated by Mudzengi et al (2020) who indicated that indigenous browse species such as Acacia remain a significant source of abundant and persistent animal feeds in arid and semi-arid areas, especially during drought.…”

Section: Improved Livestock and Napier Grass Breedssupporting

confidence: 87%

Factors Influencing Farmers’ Adaptations to Climate Change and Variability in Arid and Semi-Arid Lands of Kitui and Kajiado Counties, Kenya

Ndungu

Mwangi

2023

Afr. j. clim. chang. resour. sustain.

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A study was conducted in the arid and semi-arid lands of Kitui and Kajiado counties to determine factors that influence farmers’ adaptation to climate change and variability. Quantitative and qualitative approaches were applied in the study to gain insights into the adaptation strategies used by farmers to cope with climate change and variability and factors that influence their adoption. A mix of purposeful and multistage stratified random sampling methods were used to select households which formed the unit of analysis in the study. Results of the Chi-square test for independence indicated that there was an association between the adoption of different adaptation strategies to climate change and variability and the study sites (p< 0.05). In addition, scrutiny of the results of logistic regression analysis showed that gender, education level, farming experience, age, and county of the respondent significantly (p<0.05) influenced the adoption of adaptation strategies to climate variability and extremes in the study area. The study identified the need for increased agricultural extension training and sensitisation on climate change among farmers to ensure that feasible adaptation strategies are promoted and factors influencing their adoption are leveraged

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Section: Improved Livestock and Napier Grass Breedssupporting

confidence: 87%

Factors Influencing Farmers’ Adaptations to Climate Change and Variability in Arid and Semi-Arid Lands of Kitui and Kajiado Counties, Kenya

Ndungu

Mwangi

2023

Afr. j. clim. chang. resour. sustain.

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“…In semi-arid regions, the dry season is a major obstacle to animal production due to food shortages and reduced nutritional value of available pastures (1) . Caatinga is an important food source for ruminant herds in the semi-arid regions of Brazil (2) .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Desempeño productivo de ovinos alimentados con ensilaje de pasto buffel en sustitución de ensilaje de maíz

Silva

Araújo

Voltolini

et al. 2022

Rev. Mex. Cienc. Pecu.

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This study aimed to evaluate the productive performance and nutritional status of crossbred sheep fed a diet containing buffel grass silage (BGS) in substitution of corn silage (CS). Thirty-two male Santa Inês sheep with an average body weight of 20.09 ± 2.0 kg were distributed in a completely randomized block design with four treatments (0, 33.3, 66.6, and 100 % of substitution of corn silage with buffel grass silage) and eight animals per treatment. Dry matter intake, apparent nutrient digestibility, water balance, nitrogen balance, and productive performance of animals were evaluated. The different levels of substitution of corn silage by buffel grass silage promoted a linear decrease in the consumption of ether extract (P=0.001) and non-fibrous carbohydrate (P<0.001), apparent digestibility of non-fibrous carbohydrate (P=0.019), water intake via food (P<0.001), total water intake (P=0.008), water excretion via urine (P=0.004), total water excretion (P=0.001), among which the highest values were observed in animals fed 100% corn silage. Water excretion via feces (P=0.017) and nitrogen balance (P=0.047) showed a quadratic function, increasing as substitution with buffel grass silage increased from 0 to 33.3 %. No significant differences (P>0.05) were observed in sheep productive performance, with an average daily weight gain of 140.16 g/d. The replacement of 66.6 % of CS for BGS provides satisfactory results for dry matter and nutrients intake, and water intake, with weight gain of up to 155 g/d for Santa Inês crossbred sheep in Brazilian semi-arid.

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Feed Gaps Among Cattle Keepers in Semiarid and Arid Southern African Regions: A Case Study in the Limpopo Province, South Africa

Lamega,

Klinck,

Komainda

et al. 2024

Ecological Studies

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Rural livestock farmers in the semiarid and arid areas of Southern Africa face large uncertainties due to a high intraseasonal and year-to-year variability in rainfall patterns which affect forage resources. Creating resilient communal livestock farming systems will require the understanding of feed gaps as perceived by livestock farmers as well as an assessment of available feed resources. In this chapter, we estimated the annual feed balance (i.e., forage supply minus forage demand) based on statistical data and described the perception of feed gaps across 122 livestock farmers in Limpopo province, South Africa. In addition, we analyzed available feed and soil resources during the dry season across land use types. We found a negative feed balance, an indication of feed gaps for livestock farms, mainly during the winter and spring seasons. Farmers perceived a combination of factors such as drought, infrastructure, capital, and access to land as the major causes of feed gaps. Furthermore, our analyses of feed and soil resources point to low crude protein (e.g., ~5% in rangeland biomass) and poor soil nutrient contents (e.g., %N < 0.1). To support rural policies and improve the performance of communal livestock systems, there is a need to combine the most appropriate site-specific options in optimizing the feed supply.

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Livestock Feeds and Feeding in Semi-Arid Areas of Southern Africa

Cited by 7 publications

References 23 publications

Factors Influencing Farmers’ Adaptations to Climate Change and Variability in Arid and Semi-Arid Lands of Kitui and Kajiado Counties, Kenya

Factors Influencing Farmers’ Adaptations to Climate Change and Variability in Arid and Semi-Arid Lands of Kitui and Kajiado Counties, Kenya

Desempeño productivo de ovinos alimentados con ensilaje de pasto buffel en sustitución de ensilaje de maíz

Feed Gaps Among Cattle Keepers in Semiarid and Arid Southern African Regions: A Case Study in the Limpopo Province, South Africa

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