Participatory action research experiences in smallholder dairy farming in Zimbabwe 

J Francis and S Sibanda^* 

Zimbabwe Open University, Harare Region,
PO Box MP1119, Mount Pleasant, Harare, Zimbabwe
jfranczw@yahoo.co.uk 

*Department of Animal Science, University of Zimbabwe, 
PO Box MP167, Mount Pleasant, Harare, Zimbabwe

Abstract

Poor reproductive performance; low productivity due to inadequate availability and poor quality of feed; high cost of commercially available feeds; high incidence of tick-borne diseases; excessive calf mortalities; and inadequate knowledge on appropriate management of cattle were identified as the major problems facing smallholder dairy farming in integrated crop-livestock systems in Nharira-Lancashire, Zimbabwe.  In order to ensure sustainable dairy farming, potentially effective technologies and management strategies were promoted through participatory action research (PAR) involving farmers, researchers and extension workers.  A farmer research committee coordinated a jointly initiated and managed technological demonstration programme.  Emphasis was placed on farmer-led, farmer-to-farmer extension, with volunteer farmers serving as resource persons.  Participating farmers chose and tried on their farms those interventions they felt could assist them in producing optimal farm management systems.  This study highlighted the attributes of stakeholder participation in research and development (R and D).  It was concluded that farmer participation should be an integral component of agricultural R and D programmes. 

Key words: Livestock systems, problems, technological demonstrations, participatory action research, farmer-to-farmer extension

Introduction

The rate of adoption of livestock-related technologies in smallholder crop-livestock systems worldwide is consistently low.  In order to solve this problem, approaches that guarantee effective linkages among researchers, extension workers, decision-makers and farmers, who have a complex knowledge base and widely dispersed expertise are needed (Francis et al 1997; Conner et al 1998).  Since members of farming households have access to most of the vital information, the local circumstances, culture and real goals of farming, they appear to be better equipped than outsiders to optimally design their farming systems.  This implies that any interventions in smallholder crop-livestock systems should be properly tested and gradually introduced, focusing on economic viability and social acceptability (Conway 1986; Hanjra et al 1987).  In Zimbabwe, advice to smallholder dairy farmers has frequently been based on adapting what was developed for large-scale commercial farming systems.

The principal objective of this study was to introduce farm management and technological interventions into smallholder dairy farming systems in Nharira-Lancashire through participatory action research (PAR).  Specific details on the procedure of research used and related outputs are discussed.  Several interventions were brought to the doorsteps of farmers in the form of a ‘supermarket’ of packaged technologies (Conway 1986) or ‘basket’ of technologies (Francis et al 1997).  The farmers were expected to select those interventions they felt could assist them in producing optimal farm management systems.

Materials and Methods

A one-day workshop was held in March 1996 at the request of the 24 farmers who were participating in a smallholder dairy farming systems research programme in Nharira-Lancashire.  The main objective of the workshop was to identify and promote potential solutions to the problems facing dairy production.  Brainstorming, focused group discussions and plenary discussions were undertaken in order to obtain this information.  Participants in these activities were the researchers from the Department of Animal Science at the University of Zimbabwe, local agricultural extension workers, the Dairy development Programme (DDP) officer, veterinary extension workers and all interested dairy farmers.

After identifying the major problems, several activities, mostly in the form of demonstrations, were planned.  A comprehensive schedule of the activities (Figure 1), the respective host farmers (including the dates when the activities were to be carried out) and facilitators (extension workers or researchers) were finalised.  An ‘open door policy’ was adopted for the demonstrations, implying that all interested farmers in the community were free to participate in them.  In order to ensure effective learning and encourage competition among the farmers, the first two demonstrations on each intervention were always presided over by the facilitating researchers and extension workers.  A farmer research committee (FRC) facilitated subsequent demonstrations.  Volunteer farmers served as resource persons.  The roles of the researchers and extension workers were reduced to merely assisting the resource persons whenever necessary.  Attendance at the technological demonstration sessions and the number of farmers willing to introduce the technologies into their farming systems were regarded as indicators of acceptability.

		Monitor performance
Adjust Management		Evaluate Impact

Figure 1. Summary of the participatory action research process in Nharira-Lancashire dairy farming systems

 The interventions promoted in this study placed most emphasis on farmer-led, farmer-to-farmer extension.  This strategy served to empower the farmers so that they could select and adapt technologies most appropriate to their agro-ecological and socio-economic environments.  It was assumed that the farmers would then proceed with the process of selecting and adapting the interventions themselves.  In this way, the farmers were expected to gain control over the generation and dissemination of knowledge.

Dialogue was used as a guiding principle, involving open discussion among farmers, extension workers and researchers.  Making available several intervention options allowed the farmers to choose what was most appropriate in their circumstances.  All stakeholders benefited from each other’s accumulated experiences, skills and observations, resulting in the socialisation and sharing of knowledge.  This is a fundamental tenet of capacity building, which strengthens community decision-making and guarantee sustainable rural development.

Results and Discussion

Many problems limiting dairy farming in Nharira-Lancashire were identified (Table 1).  They included (a) late age at first calving of heifers; (b) alleged repeat breeding; (c) long calving intervals; (d) low productivity due to inadequate availability and poor quality of feed; (e) expensive commercially available feeds; (f) heavy tick infestation, accompanied by high incidence of tick-borne diseases; (g) excessive calf mortalities; and (h) inadequate knowledge on appropriate livestock management practices.  There was an obvious justification for promoting potentially effective technologies and management practices that would alleviate these problems. 

The interventions preferred most by the farmers were on-farm feed formulation and control of ticks and intestinal parasites.  Although the farmers had clear ideas on what had to be done to solve the dairy-related problems, the appropriate socio-economic strategy that could be applied when promoting the perceived solutions in the complex, integrated farming systems was not known.  However, an extension approach seemed appropriate, with diffusion of technology requiring careful guidance from researchers working closely with local extension workers.  Table 2 is a summary of the R & D activities carried out to address the problems.  It also shows the number of farmers who participated. The large number of farmers who participated in the demonstrations and the increased quantities of feed conserved by the farmers were probably the best proof of acceptability of the technologies and practices.  

In the following sections, the specific intervention activities are discussed in detail.  Table 3 is a summary of the adoption by the farmers of the technologies made available to them. They selected those they felt would work in their circumstances.  

Improved cattle productivity through appropriate breeding

The DDP encouraged farmers to crossbreed indigenous cows and heifers with exotic dairy cattle bulls, particularly Red Dane and Jersey. This was done in order to combine the hardy characteristics of indigenous cattle (namely tolerance to poor nutrition, heat stress and tropical disease challenge) with high milk-producing qualities of the exotic breeds (Dube 1996).  While most farmers accepted this extension advice, the absence of paddocks in Nharira made it more difficult to control breeding there than in Lancashire.  What was not emphasised in the DDP messages, however, was the fact that such crossbreeding programmes were usually associated with the risk of loss of genetic diversity and reduced hybrid vigour in later generations of the crossbred cattle.  Inbreeding could result from the very high likelihood of bulls mating with their daughters.  The researchers brought this to the farmers’ attention during fortnightly farm visits, feedback meetings, field days and other forums, recommending that available cluster bulls should be rotated among farmer clusters after every two to three years.  This strategy was designed to reduce the possible negative effects associated with inbreeding.

Judicious use of available feeds

All stakeholders in this research programme viewed the development of optimum feeding practices for different classes of cattle, based on locally available resources, as critical.  It was clear that dissemination of knowledge on the utility of non-conventional feed ingredients and feed supplements was desirable.  In order to fulfil this goal, a series of demonstrations were carried out.  The demonstrations focused on topics such as treating maize stover with urea using the ensiling method (Manyuchi 1995); better silage making for example through improved compaction, aiming to reduce spoilage during ensiling; improved feed formulation using locally available feed ingredients; and establishment and maintenance of introduced tropical pasture crops (Table 2).  In Table 2, only those technological demonstrations formally requested for by the farmers are presented.  Some farmers carried out their own within cluster demonstrations but did not notify the researchers about them.  This implies that the numbers of demonstrations presented here were underestimates of what actually happened.

Legume food crops such as groundnuts (Arachis hypogea), cowpeas (Vigna unguiculata), Bambara nuts (Vigna subterranea) and sugar beans (Phaseolus vulgaris) provided residual fodder to cattle and other livestock after grain harvesting. Despite this realisation, not much effort was made by farmers to conserve these fodders for dry season feeding.  Instead, livestock had free access to the residues around April-May, a field crop harvesting period when feed was normally abundant.  This was a poor feed management practice.  The feeds should have been conserved and strategically fed to the animals during the long dry season that extended from June to November.  A promotional campaign, designed to create awareness among farmers on the nutritional value of legume crop residues and the need for conserving them for dry season feeding was launched.  Presumably, the increased conservation of the crop residues in 1997 (Table 4) suggested that this campaign was successful. 

Improved feeding practices

The farmers were mixing different feed ingredients before offering them to their cattle as supplements or in a few cases, as complete diets.  However, the quantities of individual feed ingredients included in the mixtures seemed to depend on their relative availability rather than on the farmers’ conscious desire to supply better quality feed to their cattle.  Lactating cows, dry cows, calves, dairy bulls, in that descending order of priority were allocated the supplementary feed.

Existing farmer practices appeared to be good examples of strategic supplementation.  Despite this fact, there was need for assessing the nutritive value of the feed ingredients used by the farmers in diet formulation.  Were it for the frequent breakdowns of the hammer-mill used to grind feed ingredients, the rates of adoption of feed technologies could have been much higher than what is shown in Table 3.  Separate focused studies were initiated to establish the inherent feeding practices, assess the quality of local feed resources, modify home-made feed mixtures and reduce calf mortalities through improved rearing practices (Mandibaya et al 1999).  An approach involving farmers at all stages was adopted with the objective of getting their perceptions appropriately incorporated into the activities.

The farmers in Nharira alleged that repeat breeding was a serious problem in their herds.  This problem was reportedly most pronounced in Friesian cattle.  Probably, this was the major cause of the long calving intervals (expressed in days as mean ± standard error of mean) for Friesian (538 ± 26.9), Red Dane (507 ± 23.2) and crossbreds (475 ± 19.4) observed in this study.  Mineral deficiencies in feed and poor heat detection skills were suspected to cause this problem.  Diagnostic studies were carried out by Maposa (1998) to establish the mineral status of the commonly used feeds and products.  The results obtained would then be used in extension programmes to highlight the importance of mineral supplementation.  A separate diagnostic study, designed to establish the causes of poor reproductive performance of cows and heifers and potential solutions, was initiated in 1998 and is still on-going.  Because the PAR process continually identified so many topics for in-depth investigation, it can be argued that an “agricultural space station” was established in Nharira-Lancashire.  This is a unique attribute of the research approach used in this study.

Treating poor quality roughages with urea

Arable fields became communal grazing areas soon after harvesting and throughout the dry season.  As shown in table 4, some of the crop residues and Ricardia scabra (a notorious weed in cropping systems), were harvested, stored and fed to cattle during the dry season.  During that period, the cattle were always let loose in the morning but confined to pens at night.

The inherently low crude protein content (< 50 g/kg DM) of the most abundant roughages, for example maize stover, limited their usefulness in dairy cattle production systems.  Treating the roughages with urea using the ensiling method (Manyuchi 1995) was regarded as a prudent way of correcting the protein deficiencies.  The urea-treated stover was expected to improve the usual digestive processes that occur in the rumen and enhance digestibility and intake of the normally poor quality feed.  Even with these efforts, the nutrient deficiencies could still be too large to be corrected by urea-treatment (Patil and Udo 1997).

The researchers were cognisant of the fact that for cows with daily milk yields as low as 3-5 kg/cow, treatment of stover with urea would probably not result in much economic benefit (Rao et al  1993.  However, most farmers pointed out that cattle fed urea-treated stover had improved body condition, which was expected to impact positively on reproductive performance.  There is need to provide quantitative evidence to support this claim.  According to the farmers, another benefit derived from feeding urea-treated stover late afternoon every day was the development of a stronger homing instinct by the cattle.  Because of this behavioural change in the cattle, the labour needed for collecting the animals from grazing areas was released to other productive activities.

Increased fodder production

Biomass and crop yields could be improved through planting forages such as multipurpose trees, tropical legumes and grasses on contour ridges and intercropping fodder grasses and food crops with shrub and herbaceous legumes.  The forage species that were performing well in farmers’ fields included Napier grass (Pennisetum purpureum), Siratro (grass (Chloris gayana), fine stem stylo (Stylosanthes guianensis), pigeon Macroptilium atropurpureum), Giant Rhodes pea   It was difficult for the farmers to obtain seeds or (Cajanus cajan) and velvet bean (Mucuna pruriens) (Table 5).appropriate planting materials of these speciesconjunction with the local DDP officer, sourced .  The researchers, in seeds of the forages and distributed them to interested farmersfarmers bought their own seed from the .  Some of these nearby Chivhu town or from as far away as Harare, the capital city of the countrysignificant exchange of forage .  A seed among the farmers was also observed.

General agronomic principles were demonstrated in selected farmers’ fields, hoping that this would improve their knowledge of agronomy of the species, management and ultimately, fodder biomass.  In 1996, the arable land devoted to fodder crops averaged 0.05 ha to 0.2 ha in Nharira and none to 0.1 ha in Lancashire.  By December 1997, 0.05 ha to 0.35 ha in Nharira and 0.04 to 0.4 ha in Lancashire had been put under fodder crops.  These results demonstrated the increased popularity of fodder crop production as a strategy for solving the critical feed shortage experienced during the dry months of the year.

Calf mortalities and improved cattle housing

Since there were excessive rates of calf mortality, averaging 16 % in Nharira and 6 % in Lancashire (Francis 2001), it was necessary to train farmers in improved calf rearing strategies in order to reduce the excessive deaths.  Contrary to the farmer-held perception that diarrhoea caused most of the deaths, post-mortem results revealed that more than 60 % of the deaths were caused by pneumonia, particularly in humid conditions.  The unhygienic conditions in calf pens, poor ventilation and poor siting of the pens seemed to create conditions that triggered pneumonia.  In conjunction with local agricultural extension workers (AEWs), the researchers designed improved pens and assisted interested farmers in identifying appropriate sites for the pens.  Although there was a general desire by most farmers to construct the cattle pens, the difficulty of obtaining construction materials curtailed uptake of this technology.  Some of them bought timber off-cuts from a small-scale sawmill located at Nharira Business Centre to use as alternative construction materials.  Other farmers preferred to construct calf pens using farm-moulded bricks. 

Almost all the farmers who constructed improved calf pens also built improved pens for their adult cattle.  The pens were designed in such a way that the calves would be housed individually and provided with sufficient space, ranging from 2 m² to 2.5 m².  The space availed in the pens for the other classes of cattle was about 3 m² to 4.5 m² per animal.  When the pens were constructed, allowances of space were also invariably made to accommodate possible herd growth.  While all calf pens were roofed, roofing adult cattle pens was optional.  At first, the farmers did not seem to appreciate the need for roofing the cattle pens.  The muddy conditions in the pens and the need for providing shade for their cattle convinced the farmers that roofing was necessary.  Eventually, some of the farmers constructed roofed pens (Table 3).

Control of ticks and intestinal worms

Veterinary extension personnel encouraged farmers to dip their cattle weekly during the rainy season and twice per month in the dry season.  The farmers relied, mainly, on communal plunge dipping facilities.  There were times when the cattle spent several weeks without being dipped because either water or acaricides were in short supply.  Even when the farmers dipped their cattle, dipping appeared to be ineffective on ticks resident under the tail and in the ears.  Probably, the strength of the dip was below the threshold required to kill the ticks.  This problem was discussed with the local veterinary extension workers (VEWs), who promised that they would ensure that the strength of the dip was always correct.  In conjunction with the local DDP officer and VEWs, the researchers launched promotional campaigns that emphasised that farmers (a) use tick grease to dress the ears and under the tail whenever necessary; and (b) purchase their own acaricides for use on individual farms.  However, the prohibitively high cost of acaricides and lack of cheap, convenient and effective methods of tick control hampered these efforts.

The researchers carried out an 11-month study designed to develop a model to use for estimating live weight of cattle from linear body traits, as a supporting activity to dipping and de-worming practices.  This study originated from the fact that manufacturer recommendations on how to apply acaricides and de-wormers demanded knowledge of liveweight of the cattle.  Since the farmers could not afford cattle weighing scales, it was difficult for the farmers to obtain the liveweights.   The liveweight  prediction equation developed is shown below.  Using this equation, a table of estimates of liveweight  was produced and made available to the farmers to use.

Almost 60 % of the farmers did not follow the de-worming calendar recommended by the veterinary extension service.  Most of the farmers lacked confidence in applying the extension advice and cited cash constraints as a compounding problem.  Consequently, the farmers de-wormed their cattle only when they suspected them to be heavily infested with worms.  Awareness campaigns were launched to promote de-worming around May-June and October-November in each year.  De-worming cattle against liver flukes in January was also recommended.  These were the extension messages of the Department of Veterinary Services for the area.  In order to build farmer confidence in the use of de-worming remedies, demonstrations were carried out following the procedure outlined earlier for feed technologies.  The farmers’ reasonably high levels of literacy helped them to easily absorb the training and skills offered by the research project.

Feed technologies were clearly the most popular.  Were it not for the frequent breakdowns of the hammer mill, the rates of adoption of feed technologies could have been much higher.  Other farmers cited shortage of cash as the major limitation to uptake of the proposed technologies.

Implications of the study and Conclusions

This study demonstrated that constructive researcher-farmer-extension worker partnerships in livestock systems research were possible.  It was shown that the farmers could easily identify and prioritise problems limiting their farming enterprises.  The farmers had clear ideas and knowledge on how to solve the dairy-related problems.  Another major attribute of the study was its ability to continually identify relevant research topics.  It was concluded that for participatory learning and development processes to succeed, considerable changes in attitudes of all participants in the research programmes would be necessary.

Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to the farmers and extension personnel in Nharira-Lancashire for their active participation in the research programme.  Financial support was provided by the UZ/RVAU/DIAS/DANIDA Project in the Department of Animal Science, University of Zimbabwe.

References

Conner J R Hamilton W T, Sheehy D P, Smith J W and Kreuter U P  1998  Grassland-based Livestock Production in Temperate Zones. World Animal Review 90: 6-13.

Conway G R 1986 Agroecosystem Analysis for Research and Development. Winrock Institute for Agricultural Development, Bangkok, Thailand, 85p.

Dube D M J 1996 A Report on the Dairy Development Programme, Farming World, March 1996, p28-31.

Francis J 2001 A Case Study of Integrated Crop-Livestock Farming Systems in Nharira-Lancashire Smallholder Dairy Farms, Zimbabwe, through Farmer Participation. DPhil Thesis, Department of Animal Science, UZ, 208p.

Francis J, Sibanda S and Kusina N T 1997 Researcher-Farmer Partnership in Introducing Technology to Crop-Livestock Systems in the Nharira-Lancashire Dairy Farming Area of Zimbabwe. In Kifaro GC, Chenyambuga SW and Kurwijila LR (Eds), The Role of Research in Farming Systems Development, Proceedings of Workshop held at Precious Blood Convenient, 22-23 January, Morogoro, Tanzania, p17-23.

Hanjra S H, Raja M A and Iqbal M 1987 Economics of Milk Production on Small Farms in Pakistan. In Amir P and Knipscheer H (Eds), p53-56, Proceedings of On-farm Research/Extension and its Economic Analysis, Laguna, Philippines.

Mandibaya W, Mutisi C, Hamudikuwanda H and Titterton M 1999 The Nutritive Value, Intake, Digestibility and Nitrogen Balance of Farm-grown and Prepared Sunflower-based Dairy Calf Meals. Tropical Animal Health and Production 31(5): 321-331.

Manyuchi B 1995 Aspects of Forage Quality in Smallholder Dairy Production Systems, p29-30, In Hatendi P (Ed), Proceedings of the Small-scale Dairy Extension Circus, 24-27 April, Harare, Zimbabwe.

Maposa T 1998 The Mineral Status and Supplementation of Dairy Cows in the Nharira-Lancashire Smallholder Area with particular reference to Calcium and Phosphorus, MSc Thesis, University of Zimbabwe, Harare, Zimbabwe.

Patil B R and Udo M J 1997 The Impact of crossbred cows in Mixed Farming Systems in Gujarat, India: Milk Production and Feeding Practices. Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences 10(3): 253-259

.

Rao S V N, Singh C B, Kumar M N and Gahlot O P 1993 Urea treatment of straw – An Extensionist’s point of view, p451-460. In Singh K and Schiere J B (Eds), Feeding of Ruminants on Fibrous Crop Residues: Aspects of Treatment, Feeding, Nutrient Evaluation, Research and Extension, ICAR, New Delhi, India.

Received 20 March 2001

Goto top