Livestock feed resources in Southern Ethiopia: The case of Meskan district

摘要

This study was undertaken in Meskan district of Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Regional State (SNNPRS) of Ethiopia to assess communities’ perceptions regarding livestock feed resources, management and utilization; to determine the herbaceous and woody vegetation composition, biomass and browse production. Livestock population increased in the upper altitude while it declined in mid and lower altitudes because of shortage of grazing lands. In the mid and lower altitudes, livestock are kept for traction (cattle only), milk production, and cash income while the main purpose of keeping cattle, sheep and goats in the upper altitude was mainly as a source of manure for Enset (Ensete ventricosum) production which is quite contrary to the farming practices of most highlands of Ethiopia where cattle are mainly reared for traction purpose. Enset leaves and crop residues are the primary feed sources in the upper and lower altitudes, respectively. In the mid altitude, supplementary feed in the form of concentrate was more important than pasture which is quite different from many parts of Ethiopia. The herbaceous biomass varied between 426 to 1,519 kg/ha with forest areas, individually protected grazing lands and benchmark areas having higher biomass than the communally unprotected grazing areas. Though the browse biomass produced was high (1,107 to 5,387 kg/ha), most of the browse species were unpalatable to goats and other livestock species. We concluded that feed resources and their management varied across the three altitudes and different approaches are required to tackle the problem of feed shortage.