Climate Change Adaptation in Vulnerable Crop and Livestock Production Systems in Mgeta, Tanzania

Awareness regarding effects of climate change on the environment and livelihoods is becoming more apparent than at any time before (Elisha, 2006). Among the farming systems that have attracted the attention in Tanzania, are those in Mgeta in thehigh altitude water catchment area in the Uluguru Mountains. Land degradation have been widely reported in Mgeta (Ponte, 2001), and is currently threatening the source of water for domestic use and livelihoods of the local communities. Increased occurrence of droughts and dry spells during the growing seasons might reinforce the problem. A robust cropping system toreplace the erosion vulnerable vegetables seems needed if agriculture is to persist in the area. Farmers in Mgeta grow vegetables in pure stand and in intercropping systems on bench terraces and in steep slopes, especially tomatoes, potatoes, cabbage, beans, green peas and maize. Besides, traditional goats (free roaming) and pigs are kept for meat and manure for the vegetables. In 1988, Norwegian dairy goats were introduced and currently farmers upgrade the local goats by crossing with dairy bucks. The dairy goats are tethered or kept indoors to avoid land degradation due to overgrazing. Expanding goat milk production might be advantageous since a market for milk, or milk products such as yoghurt, can be found both locally and in the neighboring towns. In this paper a traditional cropping-livestock system with meat goats and pigs and extensive vegetable production is compared with dairy goats and more use of multi-purpose trees (MPTs) and grass and less vegetables

Evaluation of growth, milk and manure production in Norwegian dairy goats in one highland of Tanzania 30 years after introduction

Dairy goats have been imported into Tanzania since the 1960s to improve the milk production of Small East African (SEA) goats through crossbreeding. The SEA goats have poor genetic potential for milk. Although crossbreeding programmes started in the early 1980s, most were abandoned or failed for a number of reasons, including lack of performance records, which were important for the design and management of breeding programmes for dairy goats. This study was designed to evaluate growth, lactation, and manure yield in Norwegian Landrace (NL) goats in one rural community of Tanzania. Growth was evaluated in 211 goats by birth weight (BW), weaning weight (WW), weight at six (W6M) and nine months (W9M), and average daily gain (ADG). Lactation performance involved lactation milk yield (LMY), lactation length (LL), and dry off days in 251 does. Twenty four additional goats were confined to determine manure production and chemical composition in a different on-station study. The general linear model (GLM) of Statistical Analysis System (SAS) was used in data analysis. Averages for BW, WW, and adult weight (W9M) were 3.27 ± 0.04, 12.79 ± 0.09, and 28.33 ± 0.19 kg, respectively. Average LMY of 322 litres, LL 214.5 days and dry off days of 84 were obtained. Animals with ≥75% NL genetic make-up produced more milk and showed longer LL and higher ADG than those with 50%. For example, BW was 3.38 ± 0.12 kg in 75% NL animals compared with 2.56 ± 0.12 kg in 50%, whereas LMY was 324.09 ± 16.22 and 248.67 ± 16.20, respectively. The amount of manure was 311.8 g and 218 g per day for mature and grower goats, respectively. Nitrogen was the major content, comprising 1.98% of all nutrients in manure. Compared with the early years of introducing NL goats, growth and productivity of milk have increased several fold, indicating that the development of NL goats in Mgeta is positive at the moment.publishedVersio

Climate change adaptation in vulnerable crop and livestock production systems in Mgeta, Tanzania

-Increased occurrence of drought and dry spells during the growing season have resulted in increased interest in protection of tropical water catchment areas. In Mgeta, a water catchment area in the Uluguru Mountains in Tanzania, water used for vegetable and fruit production is provided through canals from the Uluguru South Forest Reserve. The clearing of forest land for cultivation in the steep slopes in the area is causing severe land degradation, which is threatening the water catchment area, livelihoods, and food security of the local communities, as well as the major population centers in the lowlands. In this paper, the economic performance of a traditional cropping-livestock system with East African (EA)-goats and pigs and extensive vegetable production is compared with a more sustainable and environmentally friendly crop-dairy goat production system. A linear programming (LP) crop-livestock model, maximizing farm income considering the environmental constraints in the area was applied for studying the economic performance of dairy goats in the production system. The model was worked out for the rainy and dry seasons and the analysis was conducted for a basic scenario representing the current situation, based on the variability in the 30 years period from 1982-2012, and in a scenario of both lower crop yields and increased crop variability due to climate change. Data obtained from a sample of 60 farmers that were interviewed using a questionnaire was used to develop and parameterize the model. The study found that in the steep slopes of the area, a crop-dairy goat system with extensive use of grass and multipurpose trees (MPTs) would do better than the traditional vegetable gardening with the EA goat production system. The crop-dairy goat system was superior both in the basic and in a climate change scenario since the yield variation of the grass and MPTs system was less affected compared to vegetable crops due to more tree cover and the use of perennial grasses. However, the goat milk production in the area was constrained by inadequate feeding and lack of an appropriate breeding program. Hence, farmers should enhance goat milk production by supplementing with more concentrate feed and by implementing goat-breeding principles. Moreover, policy measures to promote such a development are briefly discussed

Climate change adaptation in vulnerable crop and livestock production systems in Mgeta, Tanzania

-Increased occurrence of drought and dry spells during the growing season have resulted in increased interest in protection of tropical water catchment areas. In Mgeta, a water catchment area in the Uluguru Mountains in Tanzania, water used for vegetable and fruit production is provided through canals from the Uluguru South Forest Reserve. The clearing of forest land for cultivation in the steep slopes in the area is causing severe land degradation, which is threatening the water catchment area, livelihoods, and food security of the local communities, as well as the major population centers in the lowlands. In this paper, the economic performance of a traditional cropping-livestock system with East African (EA)-goats and pigs and extensive vegetable production is compared with a more sustainable and environmentally friendly crop-dairy goat production system. A linear programming (LP) crop-livestock model, maximizing farm income considering the environmental constraints in the area was applied for studying the economic performance of dairy goats in the production system. The model was worked out for the rainy and dry seasons and the analysis was conducted for a basic scenario representing the current situation, based on the variability in the 30 years period from 1982-2012, and in a scenario of both lower crop yields and increased crop variability due to climate change. Data obtained from a sample of 60 farmers that were interviewed using a questionnaire was used to develop and parameterize the model. The study found that in the steep slopes of the area, a crop-dairy goat system with extensive use of grass and multipurpose trees (MPTs) would do better than the traditional vegetable gardening with the EA goat production system. The crop-dairy goat system was superior both in the basic and in a climate change scenario since the yield variation of the grass and MPTs system was less affected compared to vegetable crops due to more tree cover and the use of perennial grasses. However, the goat milk production in the area was constrained by inadequate feeding and lack of an appropriate breeding program. Hence, farmers should enhance goat milk production by supplementing with more concentrate feed and by implementing goat-breeding principles. Moreover, policy measures to promote such a development are briefly discussed

Situation analysis and prospects for establishing a dairy goat breeding program in Tanzania

Dairy goats in Tanzania accounts for two percent of the 17 million goats in total. Toggenburg, Saanen, Norwegian, Anglo Nubian and French alpine are dominant exotic dairy breeds distributed in all regions of Tanzania but abundance in Manyara, Morogoro, Arusha and Kilimanjaro regions. Both public and private organizations have played in importing and distribution the exotic breeds in the country. For example, the collaboration between in Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA) and Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU) participated importing the Norwegian goat breed. The FARM Africa (Food and Agricultural Research Management) and HPI (Heifer Project International) responsible for Toggenburg and Saanen dairy breeds. The support with dairy goats has proven to be rather effective in improving food security and livelihood of people who owned them. Long term benefits of the goats can be realized if breeding principles are well considered e.g. reliable source of replacement breeding stock. As a step towards achieving that, a Strength, Weakness, Opportunity and Threats (SWOT) analysis of a dairy goat breeding program in Tanzania today were analysed in this paper. The analysis revealed potential possibilities for establishing sustainable dairy goat breeding program in the country. However, poor and unreliable records were the main hindrances for sustainable genetic improvement of goats in the country. Alternatively, this paper propose a simplified breeding plan that benefits from progress made elsewhere through occasional semen import for AI in one breeding nucleus herd in the country, multiplied by another unit/centre for distribution to clients. Key roles and risks of private and public institutions participating in implementing the breeding plan are highlighted

Situation analysis and prospects for establishing a dairy goat breeding program in Tanzania

Dairy goats in Tanzania accounts for two percent of the 17 million goats in total. Toggenburg, Saanen, Norwegian, Anglo Nubian and French alpine are dominant exotic dairy breeds distributed in all regions of Tanzania but abundance in Manyara, Morogoro, Arusha and Kilimanjaro regions. Both public and private organizations have played in importing and distribution the exotic breeds in the country. For example, the collaboration between in Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA) and Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU) participated importing the Norwegian goat breed. The FARM Africa (Food and Agricultural Research Management) and HPI (Heifer Project International) responsible for Toggenburg and Saanen dairy breeds. The support with dairy goats has proven to be rather effective in improving food security and livelihood of people who owned them. Long term benefits of the goats can be realized if breeding principles are well considered e.g. reliable source of replacement breeding stock. As a step towards achieving that, a Strength, Weakness, Opportunity and Threats (SWOT) analysis of a dairy goat breeding program in Tanzania today were analysed in this paper. The analysis revealed potential possibilities for establishing sustainable dairy goat breeding program in the country. However, poor and unreliable records were the main hindrances for sustainable genetic improvement of goats in the country. Alternatively, this paper propose a simplified breeding plan that benefits from progress made elsewhere through occasional semen import for AI in one breeding nucleus herd in the country, multiplied by another unit/centre for distribution to clients. Key roles and risks of private and public institutions participating in implementing the breeding plan are highlighted.publishedVersio