Cattle Farmers’ Perception of Reproductive Failures and Their Effects on Cattle Production in the North West Region of Cameroon

Abstract

Reproductive complications such as embryonic death, abortion and infertility are some of the problems which cattle breeders face in the North West Region of Cameroon although most of them may not realize the extent of economic loss that can occur through these reproductive failures in their herds. This study was aimed at assessing farmers' perception of reproductive failures and their effects on cattle production in the North West Region of Cameroon. Primary data were collected using 216 structured questionnaires administered to household heads of cattle grazers, herdsmen and crop farmers in five Divisions (Boyo, Bui, Donga Mantung, Mezam and Momo) of the North West Region. Chi-square statistics were used to determine the differences in farmers' perceptions. There were three categories of respondents; crop farmers 30(14.0%), cattle grazers 150(70.1%) which constituted the majority of respondents and herdsmen 34(15.9%). Embryonic death was the commonest reproductive failure observed (25%) followed by abortion (22.1%) and infertility (7.4%). However, there was a significant difference in the level of perception of reproductive failures in cows by farmers in the five Divisions (χ χ χ χ 2 =81.5, df = 4 p ≤ 0.001). It was also observed that among the three categories of respondents [crop farmers (29), cattle grazers (145) and herdsmen (33)], the herdsmen (90.9%) n=30) were more aware of zoonotic transmission than the cattle grazers (30.3%, n=44) and crop farmers (72.4%, n=21), χ χ χ χ 2 = 49.3, df = 2, p ≤ 0.001. The level of perception of reproductive failures among cattle farmers was seen to be very low and certainly has a great impact on cattle production in the Region. More awareness campaigns on the risk of zoonotic disease transmission is needed to discourage the consumption of raw milk and the sale of dead animals in the communities.