Traditional production systems
More intensive production systems
Specific research needs
Most small ruminants in the humid zone are kept under traditional management systems, usually in small household flocks of five or six animals. The few data available on these production systems suggest that the potential for increasing productivity is substantial, but the main constraint is the incidence of disease. There is very little information quantifying actual losses from disease, however, or indicating the relative importance of specific diseases. Also, little is known about the seasonality of disease incidence or the interaction of different diseases with nutritional or reproductive status. Prophylactic and curative treatments have been developed for the most important diseases affecting sheep and goats in the humid tropics, but in some cases additional testing needs to be carried out, and the economics of comprehensive control schemes are largely unknown.
The nutritional status of small ruminants under traditional husbandry systems appears adequate at present levels of production, but may become a constraint with improved disease control and increased productivity. The role of browse in improved nutritional regimes appears particularly promising.
ILCA is currently carrying out comprehensive surveys, of traditional small ruminant production systems and designing a package of innovations for improving productivity. First, a general survey of 1 000 households has been conducted in the forest and derived savanna areas of the humid zone. Livestock ownership patterns were recorded, along with the age and sex composition of household flocks. Information collected on livestock production is being analysed in relation to the main characteristics of the farming systems.
This general survey has formed the basis of a more detailed study of 1 200 individual animals - 800 goats and 400 sheep - which are being monitored for one year. Production parameters, clinical cases of disease and mortality are being recorded. The nutritional status of a small sample is also being recorded, and the role of browse plants as a source of animal feed is being studied in more detail.
At the same time, information is being analysed on the number of small ruminants passing through rural and urban markets in Nigeria and the fluctuations in sheep and goat prices. This information is largely collected by national and local agencies, but data on marketing may also be collected by ILCA directly.
The surveys conducted by ILCA are being carried out in the Ibadan area of western Nigeria. This research work may be expanded to include other geographic areas, however, through cooperative arrangements with other organizations.
Analysis of the original surveys should be completed by the end of 1979. This information will be used as the basis for formulating packages of innovations designed to increase goat and sheep production under traditional management systems. These packages will be introduced for testing at the village level in early 1980, and the results will be recorded and in turn will form the basis for further research and testing.
In view of the increasing population pressure and demand for animal protein in West and Central Africa, more intensive sheep and goat production systems are likely to assume greater importance in the local economy. Based on currently available bio-technical and economic information, ILCA has designed three intensive production units, to be operated on an experimental basis during the next three years. These intensive production systems include disease control measures, animal housing and improved reproduction management, introduced with flocks of 150 animals, i.e. on a scale likely to be feasible for smallholders. The main difference between the three systems is the amount of labour and capital invested, as reflected in management strategies, and the degree of pasture development. During the first year, two experimental units are being established, namely:
a. a system based on fallow land improved by interplanting fodder shrubs such as Leucaena leucocephala and Cajanus cajan, with sheep and goats managed together, andb. a system based on improved fodder production, including grass, legume and shrub species, with a higher carrying capacity and sheep and goats managed separately.
At a later stage (1980-1981), a zero grazing system will also be established, aimed at the intensive breeding and fattening of sheep and goats.
Experience with these three production units should provide considerable information on the biological and economic efficiency of small ruminant production at various levels of intensity. On the basis of this experience and further information obtained by simulation techniques, optimum packages of innovations will be developed and tested under village conditions.
Information already available on sheep and goat production in the humid zone suggests a number of components of the production system which require more detailed investigation. For one thing, the main investment requirements for intensive production are improved animal housing and fencing, and the costs of these inputs have a considerable effect on the feasibility of any improved system. Different types of fencing and housing will be compared in connection with ILCA's experimental production units and also in cooperation with national research institutes.
Data on the carrying capacity of natural fallows and improved pastures are also inadequate, though stocking rates can have a crucial effect on the biological and economic feasibility of an intensive production system. Experience with various stocking rates will be obtained from the three experimental management units, but, in addition, ILCA plans to carry out specific trials aimed at determining optimum carrying capacities of various types of pasture. These results will provide a basis for modifying the practices followed on the experimental management units.
The importance of browse plants in the feeding regime of small ruminants in the humid zone has already been mentioned. ILCA is carrying out studies of the most important indigenous shrubs and of a few introduced species in terms of their potential contribution to improved animal feeding regimes.
A preliminary trial is also being carried out of the effects of tissue culture rinderpest vaccine (TCRV) on the incidence of peste des petits ruminants (PPR) among sheep and goats in the humid zone. Further research work may be undertaken in this area if the results of village-level surveys and experience with the experimental management units point to the importance of PPR as a constraint on increased small-ruminant production.
Beginning in 1980, the effects of strategic supplementary feeding with locally available crop and agro-industrial byproducts will also be investigated.
This entire research programme, aimed at contributing to the development of small ruminant production in the humid tropics, is based on close collaboration with national and international institutions working in the humid zone. In Nigeria, ILCA is already working closely with the Federal Livestock Department (FLD) and the National Animal Production Research Institute (NAPRI), and specific components of the research programme are being carried out in cooperation with the Universities of Ibadan and Ife. ILCA is also working closely with the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) at Ibadan, particularly in the areas of administration, farming systems research and fodder agronomy. Cooperation with other universities and research and development institutions in West and Central Africa is also envisaged.
