2. Classification of ruminant production systems in sub-Saharan Africa

This chapter reviews the principles and criteria used to classify livestock production systems and outlines the approach adopted in this study to classify ruminant systems in sub-Saharan Africa.

Classification principles

Livestock production systems may be classified according to a number of criteria, the main ones being integration with crop production, the animal-land relationship, AEZ, intensity of production, and type of product. Other criteria include size and value of livestock holdings, distance and duration of animal movement, types and breeds of animals kept, market integration of the livestock enterprise, economic specialization and household dependence on livestock. For detailed reviews of the different criteria that have been used, see Jahnke (1982), Wilson (1986a), Mortimore (1991) and Seré and Steinfeld (1996). In principle, there can be as many classifications as there are possible combinations of criteria.

Classifying livestock production systems in central Mali, Wilson (1986b) used two main criteria: the degree of dependence on livestock and the type of cropping associated with them. Other criteria, such as distance and type of movement, were considered less important as they vary within the system and often divert attention away from the main criterion, which is degree of dependence on livestock. Seré and Steinfeld (1996) cited operational considerations and limited their classification by using integration with crops, animal-land relationship and AEZs to classify world livestock production systems.

For the purpose of this study, the farming systems approach was used to classify the ruminant production systems (Humphrey, 1980; Jahnke, 1982; Wilson, 1991; Wilson, 1995; Seré and Steinfeld, 1996). A farming system is defined as a group of farms with a similar structure, such that individual farms are likely to share similar production functions. A farm is usually the unit making decisions on the allocation of resources. The advantage of adopting the farming systems approach is that, as a group of farms is assumed to be operating in a similar environment, it provides a useful scheme for the description and analysis of livestock development opportunities and constraints. According to Jahnke (1982), the term “livestock production system” is used to denote a farming system of interest not only for the study of livestock but also for the purposes of livestock development. Moreover, a livestock production system can be considered either as a component of a mixed crop-livestock farming system or may constitute the whole farming system, according to whether or not livestock production is the sole activity of the farm.

Classifying ruminant production systems by farming systems first, then placing them in the context of an AEZ, as this study does, has the added advantage of providing information about the resource endowment (e.g. the livestock-to-land and person-to-land ratios, the extent of tsetse infestation and the productivity of the land) and thus can be a useful indicator of the system’s potential for growth. This is because livestock production as a form of land use is seen in relation to other forms of land use, in particular cropping. In this study, then, the characteristics of livestock production systems are assessed by the type of livestock and livestock products, by the function livestock have and by the management practices likely to be found in the system.

Seré and Steinfeld (1996) broadly classified world livestock production systems into four main types:

• Grassland-based systems, based solely on livestock, in which more than 90 percent of the dry matter fed to animals comes from rangelands, pastures or home-grown forages and in which annual stocking rates are less than 10 TLU per ha of agricultural land.

• Rainfed mixed farming systems, in which more than 10 percent of the dry matter fed to animals comes from crop by-products or more than 10 percent of the total value of production comes from non-livestock farming activities. In these systems, more than 90 percent of the value of non-livestock farm produce comes from rainfed land use.

• Irrigated mixed farming systems. These are similar to the previous systems, but more than 10 percent of the value of non-livestock farm produce comes from irrigated land use.

• Landless livestock production systems, which are solely livestock-based with 10 percent or less of the dry matter fed to animals being farm produced and in which annual stocking rates are above 10 livestock units per ha of agricultural land. These systems may raise either monogastric (pig/poultry) or ruminant animals and may take an urban or peri-urban form.

Irrigated mixed farming systems are relatively unimportant in sub-Saharan Africa (Seré and Steinfeld, 1996; Winrock, 1992). However, small-scale systems of this kind are growing rapidly in a few areas, such as Guinea-Bissau and the central part of the United Republic of Tanzania (Dixon et al., 2001).

Ruminant production systems

Modern and traditional livestock production systems have been distinguished on the basis of factors of production. Modern systems have large capital requirements and employ substantial amounts of hired labour, while traditional systems mainly rely on family labour and the extensive use of land (Wilson, 1991). In general, traditional livestock systems are far more prevalent in sub-Saharan Africa than modern systems. Figure 1 presents the main traditional ruminant production systems in the region, while Table 6 presents various indicators for classifying them. Using the farming systems approach, Jahnke (1982) and Seré and Steinfeld (1996) provide similar classifications of the major systems; for the purpose of this study, the terminology of Seré and Steinfeld (1996) was adopted.

As seen in Figure 1, traditional ruminant production systems in sub-Saharan Africa can be subdivided into two broad categories: grassland-based systems and mixed systems. The estimated distribution of ruminant production systems in the region is presented in Map 3. The grassland-based systems occur in areas with an LGP of less than 90 days, whereas the mixed systems occur in areas with more than 90 days.

The grassland-based systems have been subdivided into:

• traditional pastoral systems, found in arid areas receiving less than 400 mm of rainfall per annum, with an LGP of 0 to 75 days, where cropping is not practised;

• traditional agropastoral systems, which occur in arid and semi-arid areas with annual rainfall between 400 and 600 mm per annum, with an LGP of 75 to 90 days and whose main crops are millet and sorghum; and

• modern systems, i.e. ranching systems, which occur in almost all zones.

On the basis of the mean temperature during the plant growing period, mixed systems can be further subdivided into tropical lowland and tropical highland systems. In the lowlands the daily mean temperature during the growing period is above 20°C, whereas in the highlands it is below 20°C.

The mixed systems of the lowlands are further differentiated by AEZs, which determine the cropping pattern:

• mixed semi-arid systems in areas receiving 500 to 1 000 mm of rainfall per annum, with an LGP of 90 to 180 days and with sorghum and millet as the main crops;

• mixed subhumid systems in areas receiving 1 000 to 1 500 mm of rainfall per annum, with an LGP of 180 to 270 days and with maize and sorghum as the main crops;

• mixed humid systems in areas receiving more than 1 500 mm of rainfall per annum, with an LGP of more than 270 days and with roots and tubers as the main crops.

The main crops in the highlands are wheat, teff and coffee. Mixed systems in the highlands can be differentiated into two groups according to the main output from the livestock:

• mixed highland systems, whose main output is draught power; and

• smallholder dairy systems, which are non-traditional and specialize in milk production.

Figure 1. Classification of traditional ruminant production systems in sub-Saharan Africa

Table 6. Indicators for classification of traditional ruminant production systems in sub-Saharan Africa

¹ Use of exotic (improved) breeds: +++ = very important, ++ = moderately important, + = some importance

A notable recent development is the emergence of peri-urban smallholder dairy systems, driven mainly by the growing demand for milk in urban centres. These are not restricted to the highlands but also occur in other zones.

Table 7 presents the estimated distribution of cattle by production system in sub-Saharan Africa. The data are derived from a cattle density map based on the 1994 cattle population (FAO, 1999). The pastoral system comprises 21 percent of total cattle numbers. About 30 percent are kept in the mixed semi-arid system, 21.7 percent in the mixed subhumid and only 3.6 percent in the mixed humid system. The mixed highland system has 19.6 percent and the smallholder dairy system contains about 4.3 percent of the total cattle population.

Table 7. Estimated distribution of cattle (‘000) by production system in sub-Saharan Africa

¹ A small proportion of animals attributed to semi-arid mixed systems are probably kept in pastoral systems

Source: calculations based on cattle density map for 1994, FAO (1999)