There are a number of constraints confronting
the livestock industry and impedes its growth and development most especially in the tropics.
Some of
the most limiting factors are listed and discussed as follow:
Nutrition and
Feed Supplies: The provision
of feed that is adequate both in quality and quantity and accessible to animals
all year round is the most outstanding problem of livestock production in
the tropics. The natural range resources that form the primary source of nutrients
have been observed to rapidly increase in nutritive value at the onset of rains
and decline shortly thereafter. The state of poor nutritive feed quality often
last longer during the year than the period of forage abundance and high
nutritive quality. Supplementation with crop residues from cropped farmlands
scarcely meets the requirements for animal growth. The unavailability of
grazing feedstuffs in the year round is aggravated by the widespread bushfire
and imbalance between the stocking rate and carrying capacity of the range. The
consequence of overstocking is simply high incidence of erosion and a reduction
in the carrying capacity of vast land area with potential for high cattle
production. In event of acute shortage of range resources during the dry season considerable losses in live
weight and number of stock usually result. The cyclical occurrence of feed
deficit year in and year out impairs animal growth rate and reproductive
performance while instigating movement of stock from one place to another with
its numerous attendant problems including high susceptibility of animals to
diseases and pest attack and often fatal clash between herders and farmers.
Inadequate
Breeding Programme: Adoption of haphazard breeding programme in
which indigenous cows are crossbred with bulls by natural or artificial
insemination at one time and massive importation of exotic breeds into the tropics
at another, have failed to make any tangible impact. The consequence of this is
the proliferation of local breeds of cattle in their numbers not responding to
improvement in quantitative traits. It is still not clear as to what means to
categorise local breeds of cattle as dairy or beef type. They all exhibit dual
or triple-purpose traits, with productivity far below the average expected. The
reproductive performance of the cows which is an important consideration in
breeding is hampered by long calving interval that is rooted in poor management
and inadequate feeding. Worst still, most tropical countries especially in Africa has no breeding policy programme
for her livestock.
Disease and Pest
Infestation: In the tropical environment, a number of important epizootic diseases of
livestock easily thrive. In cattle, for example; rinderpest, contagious
pleuropneumonia (CBPP), dermatophilosis foot and mouth disease, anaplasmosis,
babesiosis and trypanosomiasis. These diseases are so virulent that they limit
production, increase morbidity and cause widespread death of cattle. Recently,
Nigeria was officially declared free of rinderpest infection. However, other
diseases of less epizootic nature are assuming increasing significance e.g.
mastitis, brucellosis, dermatophilosis, heartwater etc. Together these reduce
productivity of the national herd even if they are less virulent. Although much
progress has been made in the diagnosis and control of some of these diseases,
the increasing populations of vector-pests that transmit the diseases
constitute a major hazard and threat to farm animal production in the tropics.
Infestation of tsetse fly alone for example, covering about 75 percent of a country can render areas with
valuable feed resource nearly inhabitable for cattle. Other pests of
significant economic importance are enteric and helmintic parasites of
coccidian emeria, flukes, roundworm and hookworms as well as ectoparasites like
ticks, mange, mites and lice. They cause diarrhoea, loss of appetite, slow growth
rate, unthrithfulness, damages to skin and most often debilitating mortality
among stock leading to grave economic losses.
Land Ownership
and Usage: Land tenure remains a
major obstacle to livestock development, for herders have no secured individual
accesses or rights to land. Communities and individuals who crop the land often
lay claim to ownership of the land. A concession to carry out agricultural
activities is merely given to settled pastoralists rather permanent land
tenureship. Little or no opportunity is available for pastoralists to invest
and develop the land for a full return of benefits and expansion.
Low Investment
Potential: The slow rate of growth of the livestock
industry in most especially in the tropics denotes a long gestation period for investment to mature.
This is contrary to quick return on investment desired by financial
institutions like banks and investment houses. Livestock projects are scarcely
attractive unlike services and trades that have tendency to return borrowed
funds and interest more quickly due to longer period of growth required and the
high uncertainty it is associated. Collaterals and guarantee of substantial
value are not easily available for livestock producers to secure sufficient
loans to improve production even in few instances where financial institution
may be willing to do so.
Institutional
Problems: Lack of genuine
institutional support and political will to muster required efforts to improve
livestock production cannot be divested from problems confronting the industry.
In countries of India, Netherlands, Australia, New Zealand etc, deliberate
action-packed programmes are outlined and implemented with very strong
extension component that enables experts work in collaboration with native
producers to find solutions to the problems of production. While in some countries, such plan
programmes are tested within a limited area and frustrated by undue rivalry and
competition for position, profession or financial benefits as well as poor
implementation strategy. Policies
are written and are never implemented before abrupt changes are introduced. As
a result, many policies as the number of commissions set up to
assess part or all the teething problems militating against the growth of the
livestock industry. As if the poor attitude on the part of government is
insufficient, the greater undoing comes from producers who are largely
uneducated, conservative and highly mobile. Meaningful extension outreach can
rarely accommodate producers who harbor hatred, suspicion or reject and are nonchalant
towards innovations put in place for adoption.
