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Development of feed supplementation strategies for improving the productivity of dairy cattle on smallholder farms in Africa.
Proceedings of the final Research Co-ordination Meeting by the Animal Production and Health (APH), Joint FAO/IAEA Programme and held in Vienna, Austria, 7-11 September 1998, IAEA-TECDOC-1102, IAEA, Vienna (1999).

Summary

Livestock are an important and integral part of farming systems in Africa. Apart from being a source of high quality protein (meat, milk and eggs) they contribute to the economic welfare of the people by providing hides, skins, manure, power and traction for agricultural purposes increasing the productivity of smallholdings. They are also a ‘living savings bank’ and serve as a financial reserve for periods of economic distress and crop failure. Increasing ‘urbanization’ and income growth are also changing food consumption patterns of people living in and around major cities, often leading to an increase in the consumption of livestock products. Therefore, there is an urgent need to improve livestock productivity, especially in peri-urban areas, to cater to the increasing demand.

The present publication contains the reports from participants of the project presented at the Final Research Co-ordination Meeting under the Co-ordinated Research Project (CRP) held at the Vienna International Centre, IAEA, Vienna, Austria, from 7-11 September 1998.

The primary aim of this CRP was to identify approaches for improving the productivity of dairy cattle maintained on smallholder farms in peri-urban areas. Central to the approach was to first obtain baseline information on productivity and reproductive efficiency and thereby identify nutritional and management constraints. Subsequently, corrective measures were developed and tested keeping in mind the need for maximizing the efficiency of current production systems and sustaining the nutrient supply through practical and economically feasible feed supplementation strategies developed using locally available feed resources. In addition the project envisaged contributing to enhancing the level of expertise within the national animal production research institutes in the region, to encourage close contact and interaction between scientists and institutions in Africa and to promote scientific information exchange on a regional basis.

Through the project substantial progress was made in understanding the relationship between nutrient supply and productive and reproductive functions in dairy cattle on smallholder farming systems. Most of the participating countries were able to develop and test cost-effective feed supplementation strategies which improved both milk production and/or reproductive efficiency.

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