397
There is a strong linkage between Ethiopia’s pastoral livestock production, the
feedlot operations and the export abattoirs in the central-highland areas. For the
period from 2005 to 2011, the joint efforts of governmental agencies, private sector
operators and NGOs resulted in significant increase of live-animal and meat exports
from Ethiopia (Tolera and Eik 2019).
From 2013 onwards, a similar value chain approach as in Ethiopia was introduced among agropastoralists in the Hanang District of Tanzania. In this paper we
aim to discuss, based on these experiences, the feasibility and economics of supplementation of young stock with concentrate. We also consider possible positive synergies between a large wheat farm, the HLH Farm and Development Ltd. (HLH
Farm) and nearby pastoralists.
2 Material and Methods
2.1 Area, Climate and Production Systems
The study area was in the Hanang District of the Arusha Region in Northern
Tanzania (Fig. 1) at the HLH Farm and among surrounding agropastoralist communities from the three neighbouring villages of Gawidu, Dirma and Mulbadaw/
Hiriri. The climate in Hanang is semi-arid and characterised by two distinct dry
seasons, the first starting in May and lasting to early November and the second from
December to February. Temperature ranges from 20 to 30 Celsius, and annual rainfall from 408 to 802 mm (Safari et al. 2011; Selemani et al. 2015).
The HLH Farm is a commercial, non-profit company owned by the foundation
‘Friends of Haydom’, a Norwegian-based NGO. Since its establishment in 2006,
the farm has hosted numerous research projects undertaken by SUA and NMBU
aiming to improve the livelihood of smallholder farmers in the country. We used
information from the data pool of the HLH Farm to develop a model for the current
and improved livestock production systems in the area. Three livestock-keeping
practices were set up using different levels of concentrate supplementation for the
young stock (Table 1).
Effects of concentrate supplementations were modelled based on responses from
feeding experiments conducted at the HLH Farm (Mushi et al. 2015). Cost of the
concentrates was calculated based on local prices for the different ingredients:
maize bran, cotton seed cake, minerals and salt.
2.2 Method and Model
According to Malcolm (2004), farm management is about making choices, and economics is the core discipline of choice to achieve a mix of goals of varying degrees
in the face of many unknowns through the alternative use of resources. The logic is:
‘What has been and is the situation?’ ‘What is likely to be the new situation if I do
Profitability of Supplementary Feeding of Indigenous Cattle in Dry Areas of Tanzania
There is a strong linkage between Ethiopia’s pastoral livestock production, the
feedlot operations and the export abattoirs in the central-highland areas. For the
period from 2005 to 2011, the joint efforts of governmental agencies, private sector
operators and NGOs resulted in significant increase of live-animal and meat exports
from Ethiopia (Tolera and Eik 2019).
From 2013 onwards, a similar value chain approach as in Ethiopia was introduced among agropastoralists in the Hanang District of Tanzania. In this paper we
aim to discuss, based on these experiences, the feasibility and economics of supplementation of young stock with concentrate. We also consider possible positive synergies between a large wheat farm, the HLH Farm and Development Ltd. (HLH
Farm) and nearby pastoralists.
2 Material and Methods
2.1 Area, Climate and Production Systems
The study area was in the Hanang District of the Arusha Region in Northern
Tanzania (Fig. 1) at the HLH Farm and among surrounding agropastoralist communities from the three neighbouring villages of Gawidu, Dirma and Mulbadaw/
Hiriri. The climate in Hanang is semi-arid and characterised by two distinct dry
seasons, the first starting in May and lasting to early November and the second from
December to February. Temperature ranges from 20 to 30 Celsius, and annual rainfall from 408 to 802 mm (Safari et al. 2011; Selemani et al. 2015).
The HLH Farm is a commercial, non-profit company owned by the foundation
‘Friends of Haydom’, a Norwegian-based NGO. Since its establishment in 2006,
the farm has hosted numerous research projects undertaken by SUA and NMBU
aiming to improve the livelihood of smallholder farmers in the country. We used
information from the data pool of the HLH Farm to develop a model for the current
and improved livestock production systems in the area. Three livestock-keeping
practices were set up using different levels of concentrate supplementation for the
young stock (Table 1).
Effects of concentrate supplementations were modelled based on responses from
feeding experiments conducted at the HLH Farm (Mushi et al. 2015). Cost of the
concentrates was calculated based on local prices for the different ingredients:
maize bran, cotton seed cake, minerals and salt.
2.2 Method and Model
According to Malcolm (2004), farm management is about making choices, and economics is the core discipline of choice to achieve a mix of goals of varying degrees
in the face of many unknowns through the alternative use of resources. The logic is:
‘What has been and is the situation?’ ‘What is likely to be the new situation if I do
Profitability of Supplementary Feeding of Indigenous Cattle in Dry Areas of Tanzania