Village Livestock Research Articles

Feasibility Study of Fueling the Iran Rural Areas by Biogas from Livestock Waste

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to evaluate to what extent the construction of common and individual biogas plants can answer the fuel needs of rural people or families. Methodology: The present study with descriptive - analytical method, examines the fuel needs of the rural people and its supply by biogas from livestock waste. Findings: The primary outcome of the proportion of rural population and the population of animals is that (If the distribution of the livestock and human population in villages were the same) livestock wastes that can be collected for per rural person, might fully answer his needs for consuming the natural gas in one year. The results show very high potential for producing biogas and its use in rural areas; thus, livestock waste that can be collected in the villages might answer the fuel needs of rural people in acceptable level. Research limitations: Low awareness and inadequate training in this field were one the problems in the present study. Moreover, the lack of participation in the construction of biogas plants and the lack of comprehensive national plan for developing this technology will prevent the progress of this type of activites. Therefore, it is necessary to solve these problems. Practical implications: It is important to provide opportunities and special trainings for rural people in order to acquaint them with various advantages of using this technology. In addition, the government support, including granting loans for biogas plants construction, might be effective for developing such a technology. Original/values: Providing fuel for rural areas by biogas from livestock waste has many advantages, including savings in the consumption of fossil fuels, reducing the cost of gas pipeline to rural areas, the production of enriched fertilizer used in agriculture, the increase in human and environment health and so on.

The Role of Livestock Mobility in the Livelihood Strategies of Rural Peoples in Semi-Arid West Africa

Over the past 10 years, mobility of livestock has been portrayed as increasing the resilience of rural households in semi-arid Africa to climate change and variability. With this recognition, there has been important work characterizing livestock mobility and the barriers to it. This paper adds to this work by addressing two gaps in the literature: 1. An understanding in the variation of livestock mobility practices among communities; and 2. An understanding of rural peoples’ views of the advantages and disadvantages of livestock mobility as well as the factors affecting their decisions about herd movements. A mixed-methods approach was adopted to analyze data collected by household survey and group interviews conducted in 32 multi-ethnic villages in Mali and Niger spanning the 12.5° N to 16.5° N latitudinal range. The results of regression and qualitative analyses show that: 1. A large fraction of rural households rely on livestock as part of their livelihood strategies; 2. Grazing management of a large majority of village livestock depends on movements outside of the village territory, especially during the rainy season; 3. The mobility of village livestock is not strongly influenced by the village’s sociprofessional composition (farmer, herder, fisher, artisan..etc.); and 4. The prevalence of extra-village movements of village livestock (sheep and cattle) is higher in areas of higher population density. Despite the advantages of livestock mobility cited by informants, longer-distance movements are inhibited by risks associated with climatic, land-use, and sociopolitical change. Herd managers make decisions using diverse information about potential destinations with greater trust of information gathered by themselves or close kin. The implications of these findings for livestock management and policy in the region are discussed.

Water Sources and Their Protection from the Impact of Microbial Contamination in Rural Areas of Beijing, China

Bacterial contamination of drinking water is a major public health problem in rural China. To explore bacterial contamination in rural areas of Beijing and identify possible causes of bacteria in drinking water samples, water samples were collected from wells in ten rural districts of Beijing, China. Total bacterial count, total coliforms and Escherichia coli in drinking water were then determined and water source and wellhead protection were investigated. The bacterial contamination in drinking water was serious in areas north of Beijing, with the total bacterial count, total coliforms and Escherichia coli in some water samples reaching 88,000 CFU/mL, 1,600 MPN/100 mL and 1,600 MPN/100 mL, respectively. Water source types, well depth, whether the well was adequately sealed and housed, and whether wellhead is above or below ground were the main factors influencing bacterial contamination levels in drinking water. The bacterial contamination was serious in the water of shallow wells and wells that were not closed, had no well housing or had a wellhead below ground level. The contamination sources around wells, including village dry toilets and livestock farms, were well correlated with bacterial contamination. Total bacterial counts were affected by proximity to sewage ditches and polluting industries, however, proximity to landfills did not influence the microbial indicators.

Village livestock population and sampling strategies in communal areas in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa

There is an urgent need for a livestock census in communal areas of the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. This study focuses on the description of the cattle, sheep, and goat populations with emphasis on the livestock distributions and population characteristics in a pilot study in two wards in communal farm land. In one of the wards, sample homogeneity was found in the cattle and goat populations. In contrast, in the second ward sheep and goat populations were found heterogeneous, and only cattle showed homogeneity. As a consequence, the use of a simple random sampling strategy for the livestock population can be recommended in one ward whereas a more complex stratified random sampling strategy is recommended for the other. The organization and logistics costs must be taken into consideration when organizing a livestock census. Therefore, the observations of this study prepare the decision on sampling schemes for future census activities. The possibility of using a complete enumeration census should not be discarded especially in areas with heterogeneous livestock populations where the organization of a complex sampling strategy can prove to be time-consuming and complicated to be executed in the field.

Proximity in a Ghanaian savanna: Human reactions to the African palm civet Nandinia binotata

Understanding human reactions to wildlife, including the differing reactions of different groups to different species, is important given that expanding human population and settlements increasingly result in natural habitat loss or modification and, consequently, wildlife adaptation and encroachment into cleared and created human spaces such as wastelands and farms. This paper examines the importance of gender and age in the responses of rural coastal villagers in Ghana to the presence of African palm civets. Social data gathered from 450 residents in six villages indicated that women and young people were significantly more fearful of civets, seeing them as village marauders, food thieves and livestock predators. Women were also more likely to carry sticks and beat thick vegetation to dispel civets out of concern for the safety of their children and homes. These findings may inform both rural development and conservation debates and policies.

Effects of tourism pressure on herd composition in the Sherpa villages of Sagarmatha National Park (Everest, Nepal)

Tourism represents an increasingly important resource for many countries. We estimated the impact of tourism on local herd composition in Sagarmatha National Park (Nepal). We collected field data (interviews in villages) and searched bibliographic and historical sources. Village structure (lodge building) and animal husbandry (herd composition, male/female ratio) were also examined. We found that economic pressure (tourism income) has led to a change in village structure and livestock composition. Statistical analysis (χ2 and Spearman correlation coefficient) confirmed this hypothesis. We suggest that traditional settlements have a positive effect on biodiversity because they increase landscape heterogeneity, while changes in villages due to tourism pressure may exceed the natural limiting factors of the park.

Social diversity and ecological complexity: how an invasive tree could affect diverse agents in the land of the tiger

A bioeconomic model is used to study the effect of Prosopis juliflora, an exotic tree, on diverse agents in Ranthambhore National Park. Tigers prey on wild herbivores, cattle, and goats that compete with each other to feed on green biomass, i.e. leaves and grass. There are four agents: goat owner, cattle owner, wood gatherer, and park manager. It is shown that there is an inherent trade-off between the number of tigers and village livestock that are grazing. Prosopis juliflora makes management of this trade-off more difficult. The four agents have different interests in the park, and a different ranking of the four scenarios that are simulated.

Selecting bait base to increase uptake of zinc phosphide and warfarin rodenticide baits

Rodent pests cause major economic losses to rice crops and inflict health risk to people and live-stock in villages. Maize-based baits were used traditionally to control ricefield rodents. This study aimed to determine if replacing maize with rice as bait base would increase uptake of zinc phosphide and warfarin wax block baits in maturing rice crops, fallow fields and villages. The study site was in lowland ricefields in Cambodia. Nineteen experimental plots were placed in the three habitats, with three/four plots treated with zinc phosphide and three with warfarin per habitat. Each plot consisted of five bait points each with rice and maize-based toxic and non-toxic baits. Mean bait uptake was increased by 65% through replacing maize with rice as the base. Such increase was greater with warfarin being the active ingredient than with zinc phosphide, but both increases were substantial (62% and 51%). The increase was high in villages (85%) and maturing rice crops (79%), and lower in fallow fields (49%). We recommend that rice be the base in both baits.

Livestock related nutrient budgets within village territories in western Niger

Poor cropland fertility and a rapidly rising demand for food force Sahelian farmers to cultivate more land and shorten fallow periods. This mostly leads to a gradual decline in crop yields per hectare, which can be counterbalanced by the systematic use of livestock manure on cropland. To assess the potential and limits of manuring practices, annual nutrient budgets were established for different land-use types, based on forage and crop yields and livestock and cropland management in five village territories in western Niger, which were selected along the Sahelian climatic gradient. Stocking rates per km2 of pasturing area range from 8–22 tropical livestock units (TLU, animal of 250 kg live weight). Faecal excretion during grazing directly returns 18–25% of the consumed forage dry matter, 21–29% of the ingested nitrogen and 44–56% of ingested phosphorus to the grazed land. Corralling animals on fields at night leads to a spatial concentration of nutrients, benefiting at most 9% of the arable village land. Where livestock consume only 15–20% of the total amount of forage produced, there is some scope for increasing village livestock numbers in order to increase the area manured, but eventually manuring must be complemented by additional measures such as the application of inorganic fertilizers to sustain overall productivity of the farming systems.

Ethnoveterinary medical practice for ruminants in the subhumid zone of northern Nigeria

Ethnoveterinary medical practice is widespread among herdsmen and village livestock producers in northern Nigeria where livestock in the country are concentrated. For most of these livestock owners, modern veterinary inputs and services are not readily available and are relatively expensive. Traditional remedies are locally available and cheaper. Our questioning of 50 herdsmen and village livestock producers revealed that the ingredients used in these indigenous practices include plant extracts, seeds, leaves, barks of trees, tubers and roots of various plants. These are processed in various ways and administered to animals for a variety of disease conditions. More recently used ingredients include kerosene and spent engine oil. Considering the combination of ingredients used by the traditional animal-health practitioners, it is likely that additive, synergistic and nutritional effects might be involved in alleviating the problem of ill-health in animals. Herdsmen and livestock owners readily identify signs of disease (although some common infectious diseases have several signs and may affect various parts of the animal body). Aspects of indigenous health care practices are contrasted with modern veterinary health care.

Methods for the rapid appraisal of African animal trypanosomosis in the Gambia

A technique for the rapid field assessment of African animal trypanosomosis (AAT) was developed during studies in the Gambia. This involved gathering indigenous information from rapid-appraisal questionnaires addressed to local informants, the results of single tsetse surveys and evaluations of the prevalence of trypanosome infections in village cattle. Local informants included livestock owners and herdsmen and trained personnel such as livestock assistants. The answers to the questionnaires were weighted in order to translate them into semi-quantitative ranked estimates (zero, low, medium, high or very severe) of the severity of AAT problems. A similar ranking was also defined for tsetse and prevalence data in the Gambia. The three assessment methods generally gave complementary results leading to similar conclusions about the severity of tsetse-trypanosomosis problems in a survey area; inconsistencies usually suggested that additional information was needed. The rankings of AAT intensity were used to develop management guidelines for minimising the impact of AAT at different levels through control interventions or improved livestock management. The methodology was designed to provide reliable, up-to-date and cost-effective assessments of AAT problems. Emphasis was placed on the importance of the involvement, priorities and perceptions of village livestock owners and herdsmen in making these assessments.

Women, common property resources and livestock husbandry in Thai villages

In many Asian countries, women play a significant but varying role in the management of livestock and the use of common resources plays an important role in animal husbandry, and can affect the health of some types of livestock. This paper concentrates on village livestock in Thailand and makes use of survey data as well as national statistics. It first of all outlines the nature and development of livestock industries in Thailand. It then considers the role which women play in the village livestock economy in relation to cattle and buffalo, particularly dairying, and in the keeping of poultry and pigs. The extent to which women are involved in maintaining the health of livestock is considered. Both village bovines and poultry utilise common property resources to a considerable extent in Thailand. This has implications for the economics and productivity of keeping village livestock, the healthiness of such livestock and the spread of livestock diseases.

Village Livestock and Disease Control in Northern Thailand: A Survey Examining Socio-economic Factors

Village Livestock and Disease Control in Northern Thailand: A Survey Examining Socio-economic Factors

Livestock component farming systems research in Java—The case for work with women

Close farmer contact is a vital element in livestock component farming systems research in Java. Slow progress so far in livestock development may be partly associated with practical difficulties in achieving the degree of farmer contact needed in livestock research, while working mainly with male stock-rearers. Most men rearers in Java spend most daylight hours working away from home and their stock, and feel too busy to become involved in trials of new livestock technology. The advantages of involving women in village livestock research include ease of communication during daylight working hours, interest amongst women (and some training) in nutrition, health and reproduction, and the ability of women to manage animals in farm trials requiring constant supervision. In some villages women are already involved in group activities, which can form a ready basis for the communication of ideas on livestock improvement. The potential for improving productivity of Javanese livestock has been demonstrated under research station conditions, yet little improvement in village livestock production has been achieved. One approach to increasing progress in livestock development could be to promote research which involves women rearers or the wives of rearers. This may require special efforts to encourage women scientists to work in villages.

Ruminant feeding systems in West Java, Indonesia

Data collected from 350 ruminant rearers are presented in relation to four altitude strate in West Java. In each stratum and sample village, further selection of rearers was made on the basis of main land-use type and livestock species reared. The study was conducted in the dry season of 1982. Sixteen existing systems of feeding ruminants were identified. These comprised different combinations of hand feeding, full grazing, tethering and free range grazing practices. Further simplification resulted in four main systems—full grazing, full hand feeding, mainly grazing and mainly hand feeding. Characteristics and prevalence of these feeding systems are described and related to altitudinal strata and seasons. Hand feeding was the most common system above 100 m in altitude and was especially prevalent in the wet season. However, below 100 m (where 50% of livestock units are located) combinations (mainly grazing) were most common in the wet season and grazing was predominant in the dry season. This study is intended to provide a sound background for planning research on feeding, and for village livestock development in West Java.

Simulation of production systems in East Africa by use of interfaced forage and cattle models

A forage model and a cattle production model were interfaced and adapted for tropical production conditions in East Africa. The objectives of the modelling were to structure and conceptualise a complex system for better comprehension, thereby determining constraints on a traditional African grazing system. The model was designed to simulate the physical linkages between the scarce resource of forage and the outputs of cattle, meat and milk. The effects of improved management practices were examined for a traditional village livestock grazing system. Verification and validation for the baseline village herd were carried out using several different sources of data. A combination of a restricted breeding season, supplemental feeding during the dry season and a seasonal sales policy resulted in a 40% increase in net revenue to village producers above the baseline for a ten-year period.