Proceedings of the 5th Scientific Conference of Rangeland Society of Tanzania (RST)

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://www.suaire.sua.ac.tz/handle/20.500.14820/7529

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Fodder commercialization as strategic solution for increased ruminants’ productivity and reduced land use conflicts in Tanzania: A review
(Rangeland Society of Tanzania (RST), 2023) Kamugisha, Proscovia Paschal
Forage is the major input in livestock production whose adequate quality and quantity makes it a key component for increased livestock productivity. Natural pastures have been used to feed ruminants in Tanzania over years. Steady growth of human & livestock population, climate change prevalence, and encroachment of pastures through conversion of communal grazing land to wildlife conservation, expansion of crops farming land and areas for construction threaten adequacy and sustainability of pastures. Scarcity of pastures is widely documented as a cause of land use conflicts between farmers and livestock keepers in Tanzania. Measures to address inadequate pastures have been focused on ratification & enforcement of land laws, fair land use plans; and strengthening traditional conflicts resolution mechanisms. Despite the aforementioned efforts, the land use conflicts are still existing. Likewise, livestock are affected more during the dry season that leads to low productivity parameters. Therefore, this review paper advocates commercialization of fodder production to improve productivity of ruminant animals and mitigate land use conflict in Tanzania. The paper emplo\ed Vcoping liWeUaWXUe UeYieZ appUoach of AUkVe\ and O¶Malle\ (2005) to map the present literature by using four search queries namely; declining Tanzanian communal range lands, land use conflicts, fodder production technologies & profitability of fodder production from reliable sources. The review study shows that there is massive 148 potential to produce fodder commercially with promising profit margins Zhich can VignificanWl\ conWUibXWe Wo impUoYed UXminanWV¶ pUodXcWiYiW\ and reduction of land use conflicts. However, further pasture production research for cost-benefit analysis and market need to be done to ascertain the commercial pasture business concept in Tanzania
Grassland loss in Tanzania: causes, consequences and control
(Rangeland Society of Tanzania (RST), 2023) Nzunda, Emmanuel F.
Grasslands are an important component of rangelands. The work presented in this paper is based on spatial statistical analysis of grassland change between 1995 and 2010 using land use and land cover maps covering the whole of mainland Tanzania and GIS techniques. Further arguments for discussion in the paper are sourced from literature review. Results show that grasslands are lost at an alarming rate of almost 1 million hectares annually. Between 1995 and 2010 Tanzania lost more than 14 million hectares of grassland. Main direct causes of grassland loss are conversion to cultivation and to forest cover, almost at an equal rate of more than 6 million hectares over the 15year period (about 400,000 ha annually). Bush encroachment is also an important direct driver of grassland loss. Indirect causes of grassland loss include population growth, economic growth, challenges in grassland governance and management and globalization. Consequences of grassland loss include reduced areas for grazing, increased soil erosion, floods, increased land use conflicts and their repercussions including loss of property and life. Control measures include those addressing the direct and indirect drivers of change. However, most of the control measures are ineffective and hence the observed trend of 35 grassland loss is increasing with time. The paper concludes by suggesting some topics for further research into ways to improve the effectiveness of the control measures against grassland loss in terms of potential and possibility of more agricultural intensification, improvements of markets and profits to cultivators, nature of grassland loss to forest cover, ways to apply existing extensive research on bush encroachment and, the role of formal and informal institutions that control grassland loss.
Forage seed production for sustainable ruminant livestock intensification in Tanzania
(Rangeland Society of Tanzania (RST), 2023) Mtengeti, Ephraim J.; Kizima, Jonas B.; Fupi, George F.
Sustainable intensification of beef and milk production in any country will rely on cultivated forages. Success of cultivated forages is not possible without the support of an aggressive and dynamic forage seed production to meet an increasing demand that currently stands at 22,954 tons while the production stands at 11.41tons per year in the country. Forage seed production in the country is less developed than food crop seed production. Currently there is no locally produced certified forage seed in the country. The seeds of most cultivated forage species and cultivars are either imported as certified seeds or acquired locally as naturalized varieties without certification. Uncertified seeds lack agronomic management record and encourage forage diseases and pest spread in the country. Tanzania, however, is a point of diversity of several potential forage grasses and few legumes species that have been adapted elsewhere. Typical example is Brachiaria brizantha cv. Marandu and Panicum maximum cv Tanzania with a participation of 70 % and 10 % in the Brazilian pasture seed market and by 1999 growing season B. brizantha and P. Maximum covered 35,000 and 6300 ha, respectively. The two grass pasture species obtained from Tanzania are not yet domesticated in the country and are still retaining their wild characteristics attributes which aid their natural spread but difficulties for their commercial seed production. As a consequence from 2019 to 2022 in total, 25.1 tons of 10 grasses, 2 legumes and 1 forb seeds have been imported for forage cultivation and soil conservation purposes. The imported grasses included B. Brizantha cultivars, Panicum maximum, Eragrostis curvula, Eragrostis teff, Chloris gayana, Cynodon dactylon, Pennisetum clandestinum, Lolium perenne, Phleum pretense, and Poa pratensis. The imported legumes were Trifolium repens and Medicago sativa and the forb was Cichorium intybus (Commander Chicory). Adequate forage seed availability for sustainable ruminant livestock intensification in the country is possible, through development of an aggressive and dynamic forage seed production sub-sector supported by official research. Studies on agronomic factors influencing the adaptability of forage species, varieties or ecotypes would be useful for determining seed production technologies to increase seed production. These studies should go hand in hand with collection, preservation and characterization of our local forage germplasm resources to bring out the elite varieties or ecotypes for breeding and seed commercialization. Forage seed regulations chapter should also be included in the current seed act or grazing land and feed act. In order to commercialize forage seed production in the country, however, as for the food crop seed production Public Private Partnership must be engaged. This review paper therefore tend to expose the strengths, weakness, opportunities and threats of forage seed production for sustainable ruminant livestock intensification in Tanzania.
The ecological characterization of Kongwa weed (Astripomoea hyoscyamoides) in Kongwa district
(Rangeland Society of Tanzania (RST), 2023) Yacob, Lusamila; Selemani, Ismail S.; Sangeda, Anthony Z.
Kongwa weed (Astripomoea hyoscyamoides) is a noxious weed that is known to reduce the productivity of both livestock and crops in the semi-arid areas of central Tanzania. Despite the known negative effects of the weed, its ecological characteristics is less documented. The current study characterized the ecological features of the weed in relation to land use and soil properties. The study used range inventory approach to assess influence of land use types and soil textural classes on abundance and growth of kongwa weed. Results revealed that Kongwa weed was significantly higher in grazing land compared to other land uses which was attributed to the effect of heavy grazing. The low species diversity and evenness in the grazing land was also associated to the dominance of Kongwa weed. On the other hand, low abundance of weed in bush land was attributed to limited light intensity as result of increased woody canopy. It was found that Kongwa weed preferred acidic soils (with the pH of 5.35 recorded from grazing land) that are compacted (with bulk density of 1.57g/100m3) and composed of low organic matter/carbon (0.93% recorded from grazing land). Nevertheless, low growth rate of weed in clay soil could probably due the notable high bulky density that lower infiltration rate. The study recommended further research to investigate effect of grazing management and fertilization on growth and dominance of Kongwa weed under different soil types.
GIS application in rangeland management in Tanzania: a systematic review
(Rangeland Society of Tanzania (RST), 2023) Nzunda, Emmanuel F.; Yusuph, Amri S.
A good proportion of the aspects of range resource management are amenable to GIS technology because range resource management integrates spatial and non-spatial aspects of data and information for which GIS is best suited. Whether this amenability is exploited was questionable and needed evidence- based research to confirm. The current paper presents the results of a systematic review of the application of GIS in rangeland management in Tanzania. The specific objectives of the study were: (1) to assess the distribution of the publications by year of publication; (2) to examine the distribution of the publications by subject area; (3) to analyse the relationships among key words used in titles and abstracts of the publications; (4) to describe details of a sample of selected publications, and; (5) to evaluation the distribution of publications by institution of the authorship. The study used the PRISMA method in searching, selecting and analysing the publications. Records were retrieved from Google scholar, Scopus, and science direct. We included 80 English language studies done in Tanzania for the first four specific objectives and 136 for the fifth specific objective. There is an increasing trend of application of GIS from 1 study in 1993 and years close by to 11 publications in 2021. About 34%, 31%, 27% and 8% of the publications applied GIS respectively in environmental science, earth and planetary sciences, agricultural and biological sciences and social sciences. The words μchange¶, μaUea¶ and μTan]ania¶ ZeUe Whe moVW fUeqXenWl\ XVed in WiWleV and abstracts. Furthermore, words in titles and abstracts formed about five clusters representing study area (e.g. Tanzania), method of analysis (e.g. remote sensing, assessment, data), topic of study (e.g. change, land use, land, conservation) and land use (e.g. grassland, woodland, forest). Most words clustered close WogeWheU foUming a meVhZoUk bXW Whe ZoUd μconflicW¶ ZaV Whe moVW distant from the rest of the meshwork. GIS data sets used included land use land use/cover (LULC) layer, landscape features (e.g. rivers, roads, topographic variables) and socioeconomic data. Most publications came from Sokoine University of Agriculture, University of Dar es Salaam and Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and Technology while the fewest came from Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Hohenheim University and the University of British Columbia respectively. It is concluded that GIS is increasingly being applied to rangeland management. However, social sciences apply GIS the least. Tanzanian institutions lead in application of GIS technology, which means it is no longer foreign expertise. It is recommended that all fields apply GIS wherever appropriate. In particular, why GIS is least applied in social sciences aspects of rangeland management needs further investigation.
The use of a heritage cattle breed as an adaptation strategy to new challenges imposed by climate change in Chihuahuan desert rangelands in the Southwest United States
(Rangeland Society of Tanzania (RST), 2023) Nyamuryekung’e, Shelemia; Cibils, Andres F.; Estell, Richard E.; Utsumi, Santiago A.; McIntosh, Matthew M.; Spiegal, Sheri
This review synthesizes research comparing conventional (Angus X Hereford; AH) vs. heritage (Raramuri Criollo; RC) cattle foraging behavior, heat tolerance, and cow-calf interactions using telemetry devices in the context of determining adaptation strategies related to climate change effects. The AH and RC cows grazed separately in two adjacent pastures in a crossover design during summer and winter for three consecutive years. Rectal fecal samples were collected twice (day 14 and 28) in each experimental period and fecal-DNA (fDNA) meta-barcoding analyses were performed to characterize diet compositions. A subgroup of individuals in each herd was fitted with sensors to track their location (GPS collars), body temperature (iButton thermal loggers), and cow-calf contact events (proximity loggers). The RC cows traveled farther, spent less time resting, more time grazing, and explored larger areas than AH cows. The RC cows showed a stronger preference for ecological patches with greater shrub density and avoided areas with a high density of black grama (an ecologically sensitive forage species) during winter (period when vegetation is most vulnerable). Our fDNA study revealed that RC cows select less black grama and more mesquite than their AH counterparts, which corroborated our vegetation electivity findings. During summer, RC cows maintained a lower internal body temperature than their AH counterparts, providing evidence of heat tolerance in RC. The RC calves appeared to impoVe feZeU conVWUainWV on WheiU damV¶ moYemenW paWWeUnV; nursing RC dams covered a daily grazing area almost three times larger than AH dams. Differences in foraging strategies documented in this review support our hypothesis that RC (heritage breed) cattle are better equipped to cope with hotter and drier climates and are better able to adjust their grazing behavior according to forage availability.
Rangeland management practices in changing environment: implications for land use and climate change in selected African countries
(Rangeland Society of Tanzania (RST), 2023-04) Kilemo,Dominico Benedicto
Rangeland Management entails rangeland resource management for improved animal production and other ecosystem services. While Africa is endowed with spectacular rangelands which support biodiversity, animal production and people's livelihoods, they face pressure from anthropogenic activities such as overgrazing which leads to land degradation and conversion of rangelands into other land uses. Furthermore, the quality of pastures fed to livestock has implications on feed efficiency and methane gas emission. Rangeland management interventions which enhance the carbon sequestration function of rangelands and reduce enteric methane emission from livestock have a potential of mitigating global warming and climate change. This paper reviews different rangeland management approaches for animal production and assesses their contribution to climate change in some African countries. Such approaches include (i) Community Based Natural Resource Management; (ii) Land and water use planning; (iii) marketing and alternative income; and(iv) wildlife and nature tourism. The findings suggest that, the adoption of SRM approaches is very low with less than 25 cases across Africa. This suggests that the existing SRM interventions have had little contribution to climate change mitigation. The 74 implementation of approaches such as village land use planning, legalization of the customary land right to grazing areas, establishment of mini ranches and the establishment of improved pasture species with low GHG emission will significantly contribute to sustainable range management and climate change mitigation in Africa.
Livestock population and role of land use planning on sustainable grazing land management: case of Tanganyika district, Katavi region
(Rangeland Society of Tanzania (RST), 2023) Hieronimo, Proches; Mbungu, Winfred
The aim of the study was to assess the trend of livestock population and contribution of land use planning process towards development and implementation of sustainable grazing land management, reconciling land use with environmental concerns and resolve potential conflicts between sectoral interests and potential uses as well as increasing land tenure security and clarify customary land tenure of grazing lands (communal lands) as per requirement of national policies and laws. The study employed Land Degradation Surveillance Framework (LDSF) as tools to realize the study aims. Results from the livestock data in the district show that there is an increasing number of livestock, and in particular cattle increased from about 39600 in the year 2006/2007 to about 316651 recorded in the year 2016/2017 in the Tanganyika district. This signifies that the district experienced almost 700% increase in cattle from 2006 to 2017. In the year 2018, Lwega village located within the Mwese ward contributed 20950 cattle (55%) out of the 37834 in the Mwese ward. Land use planning process was carried out in the Lwega village as pilot village to enable setting aside areas for various uses including grazing land and issuance of Certificate of Customary Right of Occupancy (CCRO) in grazing land and other communal lands. The process enabled setting aside grazing land of total area of 12,955 ha (which is 26% of the whole village land) for the village with a total of 12,736 Livestock (with a total of 11,359 cows) by 2020 and which is expected to have a total of 15,193 Livestock (with a total of 13,313 cows) by 2030 based on the number of livestock found within new village boundary which was resurveyed in 2020. The requirement of grazing land was 20,579 ha which would have been sufficient for the planning period of 10 years i.e. from 2020 to 2030. This has a deficit of 7,625 ha and therefore this calls for a further study which will provide recommendations for interventions to improve rangeland quality and advise on restoration techniques of the currently degraded rangeland including enrichment planting and identify species of interest taking into account their palatability, intake, digestibility, and nutrient content for future reseeding programs or other measures including destocking.

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