Dairy cow grazing on natural pastures. (Betty Adoch)

Reclamation of indigenous pastures for dairy farming (Uganda)

Lum pi dyang cak

Description

Dairy cattle (Friesian) are grazed on indigenous pastures to promotes conservation of the indigenous grass species (guinea grass), which protects the soil against soil erosion and promotes biodiversity.

Indigenous pasture-based dairy farming is a balance between managing the pasture and the cows to maximize sustainable profit and promotes conservation of the indigenous grass species which protects the soil against soil erosion and promotes biodiversity. Northern Uganda has tropical savannah climate which receives moderate amount of rainfall ranging from 750-1000mm per annum. This is sometimes characterised by prolonged dry spells which hamper other economic activities like crop production. Therefore, to avoid the climatic shocks, this technology was introduced by the land user to diversify his economic activity other than only relying on crop production. The land user is a typical subsistence farmer whose major source of income depends on dairy farming to support his livelihood.
In this SLM technology, indigenous pastures are conserved for dairy farming. This is due to the existence of savannah grassland vegetation which provide abundant pastures for cattle grazing. This has favoured the rearing of Friesian cow on a flat landscape. A 30x40meters land was highly preserved for this technology. Five (5) cows are kept on this grazing field occupied by natural pasture (elephant grass) that the land user conserve. These grass are nutritious and the cows healthily and freely graze on them during wet and dry season. However, their movement is controlled by the headsman to avoid crop damage.
In order to maintain these grasses, during dry season, the land user creates a fire line around the conserved grazing area. This is to prevent the spread of wild fire from the nearby bush since it is a serious occurrence in the community. The conserved grass dries up during dry season but the dairy cows graze on it and can still produce high volume of milk as during the wet season. A cow produces daily 15 to 20 litters, they are milked twice a day and the milk is taken to town for sale. Soda ash are given to the cows to raise their appetite for pastures and water. Cows are source of milk, which is sold to generate revenue to the farmer for school fees, medications and cow dung is applied in orchard gardens and tree plantations to boost soil fertility.
To establish this technology, One Friesian cow were donated to the land user by a government project and a grazing field was secured which used to be for crop growing. Water tank placed on the grazing field. The grasses were conserved for the cow and shrub trees also protected for shade. With the help of artificial insemination, more calves were produce and today the land user have five cows that freely graze the area although their movement is controlled by the headsman.
This technology conserve grasses which cover the soil from the effects of soil erosion, reduce incidence of wild fire in the area, the shrubs trees are also protected to provide shade to the cows in the grazing field which promotes farmer managed natural regeneration and the grazing cows spread dung around the field which boost soil fertility.
During dry spells pasture growth is retarded and also becomes less nutritious that makes the cows to become skinny and water shortages. Besides, these cows are prone to pests and disease attacks that requires constant monitoring and treatment.

Location

Location: Kitgum Municipality, Northern Uganda., Uganda

No. of Technology sites analysed: single site

Geo-reference of selected sites
  • 32.95404, 3.29509

Spread of the Technology: evenly spread over an area (approx. < 0.1 km2 (10 ha))

In a permanently protected area?:

Date of implementation: 2012; less than 10 years ago (recently)

Type of introduction
Dairy cows grazing on indigenous pastures while headsman controlled their movement. (Betty Adoch.)

Classification of the Technology

Main purpose
  • improve production
  • reduce, prevent, restore land degradation
  • conserve ecosystem
  • protect a watershed/ downstream areas – in combination with other Technologies
  • preserve/ improve biodiversity
  • reduce risk of disasters
  • adapt to climate change/ extremes and its impacts
  • mitigate climate change and its impacts
  • create beneficial economic impact
  • create beneficial social impact
Land use

  • Grazing land
    • Ranching
    • Improved pastures
    Animal type: cattle - dairy, exotic breed (Friesian cattle) for milk productio
Water supply
  • rainfed
  • mixed rainfed-irrigated
  • full irrigation

Purpose related to land degradation
  • prevent land degradation
  • reduce land degradation
  • restore/ rehabilitate severely degraded land
  • adapt to land degradation
  • not applicable
Degradation addressed
  • soil erosion by water - Wt: loss of topsoil/ surface erosion, Wg: gully erosion/ gullying
  • soil erosion by wind - Et: loss of topsoil, Ed: deflation and deposition
  • biological degradation - Bc: reduction of vegetation cover, Bh: loss of habitats, Bf: detrimental effects of fires
SLM group
  • agroforestry
  • pastoralism and grazing land management
  • improved plant varieties/ animal breeds
SLM measures
  • vegetative measures - V1: Tree and shrub cover, V2: Grasses and perennial herbaceous plants
  • management measures - M1: Change of land use type

Technical drawing

Technical specifications
2 acres of land measuring 30x40 meters secured for grazing the cows. A kraal is constructed on the grazing field to accommodate the cows in the night. Pegging is done to prevent the cows from moving to cropland and after some time like afternoon the cows are shifted to another spot to graze. But also at time the cows are left to graze in the field with controlled movement. A kraal/shade is constructed, roofed with 5 pieces of iron sheet and supported by timbers that stands at a height of about 4meters.
Author: Betty Adoch.

Establishment and maintenance: activities, inputs and costs

Calculation of inputs and costs
  • Costs are calculated: per Technology area (size and area unit: 2acres)
  • Currency used for cost calculation: UGX
  • Exchange rate (to USD): 1 USD = 3718.0 UGX
  • Average wage cost of hired labour per day: 3000shs
Most important factors affecting the costs
The labour for firebreaks during dry seasons and maintaining the farm.
Establishment activities
  1. clearing thony trees (Timing/ frequency: dry season)
  2. regeneration of pastures (Timing/ frequency: dry season)
  3. constructing cattle shade (Timing/ frequency: dry and wet)
Maintenance activities
  1. Slashing the over grown grass (Timing/ frequency: dry and wet)
  2. constant removal of thony trees (Timing/ frequency: dry and wet)
  3. Refilling the water tank (Timing/ frequency: wet and dry season)
  4. Rotational pegging (Timing/ frequency: Dry and wet seasons)
  5. Taking/returing of cows to kraal every evening (Timing/ frequency: dry and wet seasons)
  6. Replacing ropes to tie the cows during pegging (Timing/ frequency: dry and wet seasons)

Natural environment

Average annual rainfall
  • < 250 mm
  • 251-500 mm
  • 501-750 mm
  • 751-1,000 mm
  • 1,001-1,500 mm
  • 1,501-2,000 mm
  • 2,001-3,000 mm
  • 3,001-4,000 mm
  • > 4,000 mm
Agro-climatic zone
  • humid
  • sub-humid
  • semi-arid
  • arid
Specifications on climate
Average annual rainfall in mm: 900.0
heavy rain in april, may, june, august, september and october. these reduces in july, november,december january , febuary and march.
Name of the meteorological station: kitgum weather station
savanna climate where rainfall is moderate and unreliable with hot temperatures throughtout the year.
Slope
  • flat (0-2%)
  • gentle (3-5%)
  • moderate (6-10%)
  • rolling (11-15%)
  • hilly (16-30%)
  • steep (31-60%)
  • very steep (>60%)
Landforms
  • plateau/plains
  • ridges
  • mountain slopes
  • hill slopes
  • footslopes
  • valley floors
Altitude
  • 0-100 m a.s.l.
  • 101-500 m a.s.l.
  • 501-1,000 m a.s.l.
  • 1,001-1,500 m a.s.l.
  • 1,501-2,000 m a.s.l.
  • 2,001-2,500 m a.s.l.
  • 2,501-3,000 m a.s.l.
  • 3,001-4,000 m a.s.l.
  • > 4,000 m a.s.l.
Technology is applied in
  • convex situations
  • concave situations
  • not relevant
Soil depth
  • very shallow (0-20 cm)
  • shallow (21-50 cm)
  • moderately deep (51-80 cm)
  • deep (81-120 cm)
  • very deep (> 120 cm)
Soil texture (topsoil)
  • coarse/ light (sandy)
  • medium (loamy, silty)
  • fine/ heavy (clay)
Soil texture (> 20 cm below surface)
  • coarse/ light (sandy)
  • medium (loamy, silty)
  • fine/ heavy (clay)
Topsoil organic matter content
  • high (>3%)
  • medium (1-3%)
  • low (<1%)
Groundwater table
  • on surface
  • < 5 m
  • 5-50 m
  • > 50 m
Availability of surface water
  • excess
  • good
  • medium
  • poor/ none
Water quality (untreated)
  • good drinking water
  • poor drinking water (treatment required)
  • for agricultural use only (irrigation)
  • unusable
Water quality refers to:
Is salinity a problem?
  • Yes
  • No

Occurrence of flooding
  • Yes
  • No
Species diversity
  • high
  • medium
  • low
Habitat diversity
  • high
  • medium
  • low

Characteristics of land users applying the Technology

Market orientation
  • subsistence (self-supply)
  • mixed (subsistence/ commercial)
  • commercial/ market
Off-farm income
  • less than 10% of all income
  • 10-50% of all income
  • > 50% of all income
Relative level of wealth
  • very poor
  • poor
  • average
  • rich
  • very rich
Level of mechanization
  • manual work
  • animal traction
  • mechanized/ motorized
Sedentary or nomadic
  • Sedentary
  • Semi-nomadic
  • Nomadic
Individuals or groups
  • individual/ household
  • groups/ community
  • cooperative
  • employee (company, government)
Gender
  • women
  • men
Age
  • children
  • youth
  • middle-aged
  • elderly
Area used per household
  • < 0.5 ha
  • 0.5-1 ha
  • 1-2 ha
  • 2-5 ha
  • 5-15 ha
  • 15-50 ha
  • 50-100 ha
  • 100-500 ha
  • 500-1,000 ha
  • 1,000-10,000 ha
  • > 10,000 ha
Scale
  • small-scale
  • medium-scale
  • large-scale
Land ownership
  • state
  • company
  • communal/ village
  • group
  • individual, not titled
  • individual, titled
Land use rights
  • open access (unorganized)
  • communal (organized)
  • leased
  • individual
Water use rights
  • open access (unorganized)
  • communal (organized)
  • leased
  • individual
Access to services and infrastructure
health

poor
x
good
education

poor
x
good
technical assistance

poor
x
good
employment (e.g. off-farm)

poor
x
good
markets

poor
x
good
energy

poor
x
good
roads and transport

poor
x
good
drinking water and sanitation

poor
x
good
financial services

poor
x
good

Impacts

Socio-economic impacts
fodder production
decreased
x
increased

Quantity before SLM: low
Quantity after SLM: high
Conserved pastures for cows.

water availability for livestock
decreased
x
increased

Quantity before SLM: low
Quantity after SLM: high
Water is stored in a tank for the animals.

farm income
decreased
x
increased

Quantity before SLM: low
Quantity after SLM: high
Through sales of milk.

economic disparities
increased
x
decreased

Quantity before SLM: highl
Quantity after SLM: low
Has his source of income.

Socio-cultural impacts
food security/ self-sufficiency
reduced
x
improved

Quantity before SLM: low
Quantity after SLM: high
Milk provide food to the land user.

SLM/ land degradation knowledge
reduced
x
improved

Quantity before SLM: low
Quantity after SLM: high
Aware of the importance of soil conservation.

conflict mitigation
worsened
x
improved

Quantity before SLM: low
Quantity after SLM: high
The grazing zone is secure from land disputes.

Ecological impacts
soil moisture
decreased
x
increased

Quantity before SLM: low
Quantity after SLM: high
Grass cover soil from the effects of evaporations retaining more soil moistures.

soil cover
reduced
x
improved

Quantity before SLM: low
Quantity after SLM: high
Grass protects the soil.

soil loss
increased
x
decreased

Quantity before SLM: high
Quantity after SLM: low
Prevents soil erosion.

vegetation cover
decreased
x
increased

Quantity before SLM: low
Quantity after SLM: high
Plants and trees exists.

plant diversity
decreased
x
increased

Quantity before SLM: low
Quantity after SLM: high
Conservation of trees and grass for the animals.

emission of carbon and greenhouse gases
increased
x
decreased

Quantity before SLM: high
Quantity after SLM: low
Plants acts as carbon sink.

Off-site impacts
water availability (groundwater, springs)
decreased
x
increased

Quantity before SLM: low
Quantity after SLM: high
Water source has been secured to constantly supply water for the animals during wet and dry seasons and also for other domestic activities.

buffering/ filtering capacity (by soil, vegetation, wetlands)
reduced
x
improved

Quantity before SLM: low
Quantity after SLM: high
Plants roots filters the underground water.

Cost-benefit analysis

Benefits compared with establishment costs
Short-term returns
very negative
x
very positive

Long-term returns
very negative
x
very positive

Benefits compared with maintenance costs
Short-term returns
very negative
x
very positive

Long-term returns
very negative
x
very positive

Dairy cows produces a calf once a year after artificial insemination.

Climate change

Gradual climate change
annual temperature increase

not well at all
x
very well
seasonal temperature increase

not well at all
x
very well
Season: dry season
annual rainfall decrease

not well at all
x
very well
seasonal rainfall decrease

not well at all
x
very well
Season: wet/ rainy season
Climate-related extremes (disasters)
local rainstorm

not well at all
x
very well
local thunderstorm

not well at all
x
very well
local hailstorm

not well at all
x
very well
heatwave

not well at all
x
very well
drought

not well at all
x
very well
land fire

not well at all
x
very well
epidemic diseases

not well at all
x
very well
insect/ worm infestation

not well at all
x
very well

Adoption and adaptation

Percentage of land users in the area who have adopted the Technology
  • single cases/ experimental
  • 1-10%
  • 11-50%
  • > 50%
Of all those who have adopted the Technology, how many have done so without receiving material incentives?
  • 0-10%
  • 11-50%
  • 51-90%
  • 91-100%
Number of households and/ or area covered
05 household
Has the Technology been modified recently to adapt to changing conditions?
  • Yes
  • No
To which changing conditions?
  • climatic change/ extremes
  • changing markets
  • labour availability (e.g. due to migration)

Conclusions and lessons learnt

Strengths: land user's view
  • Soils are protected from the effects of erosion.
  • Cow dungs are used as manure on orchard gardens.
Strengths: compiler’s or other key resource person’s view
  • Conservation of soil and improved soil fertility.
  • Vegetation modifies the micro climate through the conserved pastures.
  • Land protections from degradation by erosion.
Weaknesses/ disadvantages/ risks: land user's viewhow to overcome
  • Pests and diseases that affects the cows. Spraying and treatments.
  • Inadequate pastures during dry seasons. Supplement with maize brands,banana leaves, and hey.
Weaknesses/ disadvantages/ risks: compiler’s or other key resource person’s viewhow to overcome
  • Water shortage during dry season. Planning to build a better and larger tank.
  • Failure of artificial insemination. Need to acquire a Friesian bull.

References

Compiler
  • betty adoch
Editors
  • JOY TUKAHIRWA
Reviewer
  • John Stephen Tenywa
  • Nicole Harari
  • Renate Fleiner
  • Stephanie Jaquet
  • Rima Mekdaschi Studer
  • Alexandra Gavilano
Date of documentation: May 19, 2017
Last update: Aug. 8, 2019
Resource persons
Full description in the WOCAT database
Linked SLM data
Documentation was faciliated by
Institution Project
This work is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareaAlike 4.0 International