Practices of traditional beef farmers in their production and marketing of cattle in Zambia

Abstract

Understanding the practices of traditional cattle farmers in developing countries is an important factor in the development of appropriate, pro-poor disease control policies, and in formulating regional-specific production incentives that can improve productivity. This paper describes the production, husbandry practices, economics, and constraints of traditional cattle farming in Zambia. A cross-sectional study design was used to obtain data from traditional cattle farmers (n = 699) using a structured questionnaire. Data analyses were carried out using SPSS and STATA statistical packages. The results revealed that the majority [65% (95% CI: 59.3-71.1)] of farmers practised a transhumant cattle herding system under communal grazing. In these transhumant herding systems, animal husbandry and management systems were found to be of poor quality, in terms of supplementary feeding, vaccination coverage, deworming, uptake of veterinary services, usage of artificial insemination, and dip tanks all being low or absent. East Coast Fever was the most common disease, affecting 60% (95% CI: 56.4-63.7) of farmers. Cattle sales were low, as farmers only sold a median of two cattle per household per year. Crop farming was found to be the main source of farm income (47%) in agro-pastoralist communities, followed by cattle farming (28%) and other sources (25%). The median cost of production in the surveyed provinces was reported at US$316, while that of revenue from cattle and cattle products sales was estimated at US$885 per herd per year. This translates to an estimated gross margin of US$569, representing 64.3% of revenue.There is considerable diversity in disease distribution, animal husbandry practices, economics, and challenges in traditional cattle production in different locations of Zambia. Therefore, to improve the productivity of the traditional cattle sub-sector, policy makers and stakeholders in the beef value chain must develop fit-for-purpose policies and interventions that consider these variations.

Cattle Production Management Practices Predisposing Animals to the Incidences of Reproductive Failures in Small Scale Farming

“…These results illustrate that the use of veterinary assistance is not a common practice amongst communal farmer as most indicated to only have veterinary visit atleast once a year. The outcomes of the current study are in agreement with other reports indicating that the use of veterinary services by communal farmers was low [26].…”

Lay perceptions, beliefs and practices linked to the persistence of anthrax outbreaks in cattle in the Western Province of Zambia

“…Epidemiological factors include the increase in cattle and human populations on the floodplains during the dry season, leading to anthropogenic pressure, transhumance grazing system (Munang’andu et al 2012 ) and human behavioural factors (Sitali et al 2017 ). Notwithstanding that ecological and epidemiological factors have been researched to some extent, human practices and behavioural factors have not been scrutinised and are still poorly understood (Mumba et al 2018 ). Outbreak investigation reports and reviews of anthrax outbreaks in the Western Province have indicated that the disease has persisted in the province because of entrenched cultural beliefs and practices of local communities (Mwambi et al 2017 ).…”

Seroprevalence of Bovine Brucellosis in Selected Districts of Zambia

“…This is leading to unmitigated transmission and has possibly contributed to this plateau state. The traditional cattle sector constitutes a significant proportion of the cattle production system in Zambia [34], hence this sustained disease pressure is worrying due to the economic and public health risk it poses to pastoral communities. The absence of Brucella seropositivity observed in Lundazi district, Eastern province is inconclusive as it may be attributed to the small sample size, however it is interesting to note that a 7.7% was observed in Northern…”