Fulani cattle productivity and management in the Kachia Grazing Reserve, Nigeria

Abstract

Kachia Grazing Reserve (KGR) in northern Nigeria was home to some 10,000 Fulani pastoralists and their 40,000 cattle in June 2011. This study examines productivity and management of cattle belonging to livestock keepers within the reserve before and after a mass immigration event when 3,000 refugees moved into the reserve with their cattle to escape inter-community violence during May 2011. Data, on livestock management strategies (transhumance) and production parameters (herd size, composition, fertility, dynamics), were collected in March, June and October 2011. Cattle productivity in KGR is geared to supporting Fulani households while maintaining herd wealth. High offtake of young animals, especially the selling of heifers, was an unusual finding and may indicate that KGR pastoralists have been restricting their herd size voluntarily as well as limiting milk production to household requirements. This is probably due to the absence of a commercial milk market and a higher reliance on the sale of young stock to meet cash needs. Despite the widespread perception that grazing reserves are promoting sedentarisation of Fulani pastoralists and curbing transhumance, the inhabitants of the KGR were observed to practise wide-ranging transhumance both during wet and dry seasons driven by the limited availability of grazing. Some households selected a sub-sample of animals for transhumance rather than sending their whole herd, and some maintained cattle on alternative land-holdings outside the reserve. KGR households described modifying their usual transhumance practices in response to the mass immigration event and insecurity. Nevertheless, the herd demography results from this study are broadly similar to data obtained from other studies over the past 40 years, indicating that productivity and management practices have remained relatively unchanged.

Patterns of passage into protected areas: Drivers and outcomes of Fulani immigration, settlement and integration into the Kachia Grazing Reserve, northwest Nigeria

“…This study complements a larger mixed methods study on zoonotic disease and pastoral livelihoods in KGR (Ducrotoy 2015, Ducrotoy et al 2016and Ducrotoy et al 2017. Several rounds of data collection were undertaken as part of this study, including a complete household census in 2011, focus group discussions (FGDs) and key informant interviews (KIIs) undertaken from March to October 2011.…”

“…Established residents purported to keep smaller herds as a consequence of the limited carrying capacity and grazing resources in the KGR. Owners of larger herds routinely split these into multiple sub-herds, some of which are kept by relatives on holdings outside of the KGR (Ducrotoy et al 2016;Ducrotoy et al 2017). The ratio of sheep to goats maintained also supports this proposition -sheep are associated with nomadic life, while goats are more important to settled agro-pastoralists as they cannot be herded along with cattle.…”

“…Of these, 31% practised dry season transhumance and 13% wet season transhumance and 26% practised both wet and dry season transhumance. By October 2011, 90% of households reported having taken their cattle on dry and/ or wet season transhumance during the previous 12 months from grazing pressures caused by the influx of refugees in June 2011 (Ducrotoy et al 2016).…”

“…Transhumance data from pastoralists living in the KGR (Ducrotoy et al 2016) and Jos Plateau offer an insight into the nuances of land pressure and pasture quality as drivers for migration, especially during the wet season, in and outside of a grazing reserve. Most households in the KGR interviewed in June 2011 (83%) described poor quality of grass, scarcity of water and animals running out of pasture (overgrazing) as the main push factors for transhumance.…”

“…Duration of settlement influenced when and how far households moved their cattle. Dry season transhumance practice was equally undertaken among new and old inhabitants, but wet season transhumance was practised mostly by recent settlers and new immigrants, who also travelled farther from the KGR when on transhumance (Ducrotoy et al 2016). 'Most of those that go far away are new settlers or newcomers that have come in the last two years, those of us that have settled here for a long time do not go far'.…”