Challenges and opportunities for smallholder livestock production in post-conflict South Kivu, eastern DR Congo

A survey on smallholder livestock production with emphasis on monogastric animals was conducted in 20 villages of seven so-called ‘groupements’ of South Kivu province in DR Congo, situated along a north to south-west axis with the town of Bukavu in the center. This land adjacent to Lake Kivu is located at elevations ranging around 900–1900 m asl, experiencing tropical highland climate. A diagnostic survey helped to rapidly obtain in-depth knowledge of constraints and opportunities in this environment. Correspondence analysis and multiple regression analysis were used to investigate the association of production constraints with particular livestock species and to understand the factors that govern the number of livestock that people owned (converted to tropical livestock units [TLU]), respectively. Responses of 112 informants demonstrated that livestock is an integral part of the region’s mixed farming systems. Low livestock numbers per household at present reflect the poverty as a consequence of recent violent conflicts. Currently, farmers focus on small livestock, like poultry, swine, cavies (i.e., Guinea pigs) and rabbits. Families keep livestock to accumulate household reserves that are strongly invested in children’s education. Major issues of animal husbandry were related to animal diseases and lack of feed resources, particularly in the dry season. Lack of feed or forages were unrelated to a particular livestock species. Livestock holdings depended on animal diversity, location, land size available and respondents’ education level. The potential introduction of improved forages is challenged by their dry-season tolerance, compatibility with cropping on small farms; and people’s readiness to cultivate forages

Smallholder cattle farmers’ perceptions, adoption potential, and utilization of trees and shrubs as livestock feeds in the Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo

The sustainability of the livestock sector is negatively affected by insufficient quality and quantity of feeds. The effects of population growth and climate change further exacerbate the availability of feeds. Therefore, developing feasible low-cost strategies to improve year-round feed availability for enhanced livestock production is necessary. The use of trees and shrubs fodder has been recommended as a potential strategy to address feed scarcity. This study evaluated the perceptions, adoption potential, and utilization of trees and shrubs as livestock feeds in the Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) by employing a survey of 805 randomly sampled cattle farmers. The findings revealed that farmers utilized about 62 trees and shrubs for animal fodder. The farmers employed experience-based perceptions to evaluate the suitability of trees and shrubs for fodder based on animal and tree-related criteria. A probit model analysis results indicated that the utilization of trees and shrubs as livestock feeds were influenced by several household demographic factors, livestock farms, farming system factors, and institutional characteristics. The findings provide relevant insights into informing policy formulation and implementation that promote tree and shrub fodder utilization for improved livestock production under smallholder production systems