Protagonist (Crop Farmers and Cattle Herders) Perspectives of Crop Farmer-Herder Conflict and Sustainable Cattle Production in Ghana

The protagonist (crop farmers and cattle farmers) perspectives of crop farmer-herder conflict and sustainable cattle production in Ghana was investigated in two surveys and two animal experiments. The first survey study evaluated the root causes of farmer-herder conflict and proposed possible solutions. Sixty (60) crop farmers from six communities in Agogo traditional area and 140 cattle herders from four districts were selected using a multi-staged sampling technique to obtain a sample size of 200 respondents. Data were collected using 200 structured questionnaires consisting of both open ended and close ended questions. The selected farmers were interviewed and asked questions relating to the set objectives. Focus Group Discussion (FCD) were conducted to validate the findings from the quantitative result. Descriptive statistics, specifically, the mode, frequency counts and percentages were used to achieve research objective. Cross tabulation was also employed to establish the relationships between the variables. Results of the survey indicated that 83.6% of the respondent are very youthful and active indicating that both crop farmers and cattle herders wanted to show their strength whenever there is misunderstanding. Majority of the crop farmers (68.0%) and the cattle herders (66.6%) who had basic education preferred other method of responding to disturbances than retaliation and those with no formal education opted for similar trend than to retaliate. The results implies that educational attainment had no direct effect on the choices they made. The respondents agreed that crop damages by cattle (83.3%), land encroachment (75%), contamination of water (85%), killing of stray animals (66.7%), pasture poisoning (61.7%) and cattle rustling (63.3%) are among the possible causes of the conflict. Majority of the respondent agreed that community and religious leaders are best in resolving conflict between crop farmers and herders. They further agreed that ‘Operation Cowleg’ is not sustainable solution to the conflict. The study concluded with the recommendation that cattle farmers should be encouraged to acquire land to establish pastures for cattle and also frequent training workshop on pasture development and conservation for dry season feeding should be organized for them. The second survey was conducted due to the influx of cattle from the conflict areas into the urban and the peri-urban areas and inadequate pasture for the animals in some selected communities in the Ashanti Region. One hundred and five (105) respondents were selected in seven communities within two municipalities to assess their awareness and willingness to cultivate pasture using semi-structured questionnaire. Variables considered in the survey included demographic characteristics of respondents, farm operation, management system, feedstuffs availability and knowledge about improved pasture. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the data, and frequency and percentage tables and bar charts were used to present the results. The results showed that majority (99%) of the farmers were males and are within the age bracket of 21 to 30 years. Grass, kitchen waste, cassava peels, crop residue, and agro-industrial byproducts are some of the usual feeds that farmers in the study area used in feeding cattle. The major challenge faced by the respondents was shortages of feed and lack of fodder conservation technique. Also, majority of the respondents (75.7%) were unaware of improved fodder and 92.4% never attended any training on fodder and pasture development even though 99% confirmed their readiness to go into pasture development when planting materials are made available. It was concluded that integration of pasture establishment and improved forage technology in farming system in addition to adequate training on fodder conservation and animal feeding trials can support farmers in different way. The first animal experiment assesses the effects of concentrate supplement on dry matter and water intake, nutrient digestibility and nitrogen balance of N’dama bull calves fed Napier grass basal diet. Four N’dama bull calves averagely six months of age and weighing 61.63 kg were used in a 10-week (70 days) experiment of which 14 days were used for adaptation period and 56 days for data collection. Calves were housed and cared for individually in a well-ventilated and roofed pen. The animals were randomly assigned to one of four dietary treatments in a 4×4 Latin Square Design consisting of Napier grass only for T1 (Nap0Conc), T2, Napier grass + concentrate fed at 1.5% of LW (Nap1.5Conc), T3, Napier grass + concentrate fed at 2.0% of LW (Nap2.0Conc) and T4, Napier grass + concentrate fed at 2.5% of LW (Nap2.5Conc). During the 14 days adaptation period, the animals were adapted to the experimental diets after which they were individually weighed and randomly assigned to the four dietary treatments. The Napier grass basal diet was harvested at 60 days of planting and chopped into 10 cm lengths and fed individually to the calves. The results showed a significant (P<0.05) difference in DM intake, DM digestibility and nitrogen balance with the exception of the average daily water intake (P>0.05). The total DM intake of the animals was 36.92 kg, 42.37 kg, 44.55 kg and 44.74 kg for Nap0Conc, Nap1.5Conc, Nap2.0Conc and Nap2.5Conc respectively. It was concluded that supplementation of a Napier grass basal diet with different levels of concentrates significantly improved dry matter intake, nutrient digestibility, and nitrogen balance of N’dama bull calves compared with the control. In addition, supplemental concentrate did not influence the water intake of the animals. In the second animal experiment, N'dama bull calves fed a basal diet of Napier grass with concentrate supplement were evaluated for their feed intake and growth performance. In a twelve-week experiment, 16 N'dama bull calves weighing 99.06kg on average were assigned randomly to one of four dietary treatments based on their live weight in a Completely Randomized Design (CRD) consisting of Napier grass only for T1 (Nap0Conc), T2, openly grazed + concentrate fed at 1.0% of LW (OG1.0Conc), T3, Napier grass + concentrate fed at 1.5% of LW (Nap1.5Conc) and T4, Napier grass + concentrate fed at 1.5% of LW (Nap2.0Conc). The results showed a significant (p<0.0001) difference in live weight gain (LWG) due to treatment effect. There were significant (p<0.0001) differences in average daily gain (ADG) between OG1.0Conc (272.32 g/d) and Nap0Conc (421.11 g/day) but no difference was observed in ADG between Nap1.5Conc (575.6 g/day) and Nap2.0Conc (562.8 g/day). There were significant (p<0.0001) differences in DM intake and average water intake between the treatment bull calves and the control group. Concentrate supplementation did not significantly affect the haematological parameters measured (p>0.05) except the WBC count and the total protein level (p<0.05). There were significant (p<0.0001) differences in total feed and water cost and the least cost was recorded in Nap0Conc (GHS 261.07) followed by OG1.0Conc (GHS 370), Nap1.5Conc (GHS 445.44) and the highest in Nap2.0Conc (GHS 495.12) respectively. This study recommends that smallholder Farmers and large-scale Farmers could include concentrate at 1.5% BW in the diets of bull calves for improved performance.

Source: KNUST