Abstract
This paper presents the lessons learnt from a research project titled “Improving Beef Cattle Productivity for Enhanced Food Security and Efficient Utilization of Natural Resources in the Lake Victoria Basin” which includes Tanzania, Uganda and Rwanda. The key focus is on the implications of land use land cover change and climate variability on the future prospects of beef cattle production in this region. The study utilizes information and data from natural resources and climate components to deduce the impact of land use and land cover changes on climate variability. Additional analysis is conducted to summarize the land use and land cover data to carry out analysis on climate data using the Mann-Kendal test, linear regression and moving averages to reveal patterns of change and trends in annual and seasonal rainfall and temperature. The findings reveal that the study areas of Rwanda, Uganda and Tanzania in the Lake Victoria Basin (LVB) have changed over time following land cover manipulations and land use change, coupled with climate variability. The grazing land has been converted to agriculture and settlements, thereby reducing cattle grazing land which is the cheapest and major feed source for ruminant livestock production. Although the cattle population has been on the increase in the same period, it has been largely attributed to the fact that the carrying capacity of available grazing areas had not been attained. The current stocking rates in the LVB reveal that the rangelands are greatly overstocked and overgrazed with land degradation already evidenced in some areas. Climate variability coupled with a decrease in grazing resources is driving unprecedented forage scarcity which is now a major limiting factor to cattle production. Crop cultivation and settlement expansion are major land use types overtaking grazing lands; therefore the incorporation of crop residues into ruminant feeding systems could be a feasible way to curtail rangeland degradation and increase beef cattle production.
Highlights
More than 60% of the Lake Victoria Basin (LVB) is covered by rangelands and livestock production which is a key economic activity in the Basin in Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda [1]
The study was conducted in the Lake Victoria Basin (Figure 1) in three countries of Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda which have a high number of livestock in the Basin
The study has revealed that the selected areas in Rwanda, Uganda and Tanzania in the Lake Victoria Basin have changed over the time following land cover manipulations and land use change, coupled with climate variability
Summary
More than 60% of the Lake Victoria Basin (LVB) is covered by rangelands and livestock production which is a key economic activity in the Basin in Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda [1]. The increasing human population in the basin, increased cultivation in rangelands and climate variability are exerting unprecedented pressures on land resources that jeopardize the ability to sustain livestock production and the environment. The majority of beef cattle keepers in the rangelands of LVB mainly practice extensive production system which involves the grazing of cattle on natural pastures in either sedentary or migratory patterns. The major practices that are used to offset the challenges of overgrazing and related natural degradation is almost phasing out due to increased settlements and cultivation and exacerbating degradation of rangelands
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