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The role of cross-border transhumance in influencing resident herders’ cattle husbandry practices and use of genetic resources
- S. O. Houessou, L. H. Dossa, C. A. Assogba, R. V. C. Diogo, S. F. U. Vanvanhossou, E. Schlecht
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For centuries, the humid West African coastal country of Benin attracts cattle herders from neighboring Sahelian countries such as Niger, Burkina Faso and Nigeria. Each year, several thousands of cattle are trekked over hundreds of kilometers to Benin following established and non-established transhumance corridors. This cross-border mobility has been shown to play an important role in ensuring the productivity of the transhumant herds through adequate late dry season access to pastoral resources. Yet, its effects on the traditional agro-pastoral production systems that are encountered along the routes in Benin have never been explicitly investigated. Therefore, we collected socio-economic household data, herd characteristics and management data from 104 resident herders and 38 transhumant herders in 2 vegetation zones of Benin. To determine whether or not the proximity to transhumance corridors affects sedentary production systems, characteristics of cattle herds and farmers’ management practices were compared between villages close to (within a 25 km buffer) and far from (outside a 25 km buffer) transhumance corridors within and between vegetation zones using non-parametric statistical tests. Existing relationships between resident and transhumant herders were also identified and characterized. Subsequently, herd characteristics and management practices were compared between resident herders having relationships with transhumant herders and those without. Herd sizes of resident herders living close to transhumance corridors were larger (P < 0.01) than those of their counterparts living far away. Also, proximity to transhumance corridors had positive effects on herd management practices. The relationships between resident and transhumant herders were governed by a variety of interests including encampment/manuring contracts, exploitation of grazing lands and watering points, trading and bartering of cattle. This exchange of cattle is an important driver of change in the breed composition of local herds and represents an opportunity for resident herders to enhance their herds’ productivity through crossbreeding. However, the mere replacement or indiscriminate crossbreeding of local cattle breeds with those kept by transhumant herders threatens the sustainability of the traditional resident herding systems by increasing the risk of genetic erosion and loss of valuable adaptive traits in indigenous animal genetic resources.
Resource use efficiency in urban and peri-urban sheep, goat and cattle enterprises
- R. V. C. Diogo, A. Buerkert, E. Schlecht
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Urban livestock husbandry receives growing attention given the increasing urban demand for livestock products. At the same time, little is known about the resource use efficiency in urban livestock enterprises and eventual negative externalities. In livestock production, feeds are an important resource whose nutrients are transformed into products (meat and milk) to generate financial return to the producer. The lack of knowledge on nutrient supply through feed might lead to oversupply with severe environmental impacts. In Niamey, a typical West African city and capital of the Republic of Niger, urban livestock production is constrained by feed scarcity, especially during the dry season. Here, the issue of resource use efficiency was studied in 13 representative and differently managed sheep/goat and cattle enterprises characterized by high and low feed inputs, respectively, during a period of 28 months. Nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) inflows into each farm through livestock feeds and outflows through manure were determined using a semi-structured questionnaire; interviews were accompanied by regular weighing of feed supplied and dung produced. Live weight gain (LWG) and efficiency of conversion of total feed dry matter offered (kg TDMO/kg LWG) were computed along with nutrient balances (NBs) per metabolic body mass (kg0.75). NBs (per kg0.75/day) in the high-input (HI) sheep/goat enterprises were +1762.4 mg N, +127.2 mg P and +1363.5 mg K and were significantly greater (P < 0.05) than those in low-input (LI) units (+69.1 mg N, −98.3 mg P and +16.5 mg K). In HI cattle enterprises, daily balances averaged +454.1 mg N, +40.1 mg P and +341.8 mg K compared to +34.4 mg N, −9.0 mg P and +68.3 mg K (P > 0.05) in LI cattle systems. All systems were characterized by poor conversion efficiencies of offered feed, which ranged from 13.5 to 46.1 kg TDMO/kg LWG in cattle and from 15.7 to 43.4 kg TDMO/kg LWG in sheep/goats. LWG in HI sheep/goats was 53 g/day in the rainy season, 86 g/day in the hot dry season and 104 g/day in the cool dry season, while HI cattle lost 79 g/day in the hot dry season and gained 121 g/day and 92 g/day in the cool dry and rainy seasons, respectively. The data indicate that there is nutrient wasting and scope for improvement of feeding strategies in Niamey’s livestock enterprises, which might also decrease nutrient losses to the urban environment.