The influence of household characteristics on cattle off-take rates in the North West Province of South Africa

摘要

Thispaperevaluatesthesocio-economiccharacteristicsofsmall-holdercattleproducersintheNorthWestProvinceandinvestigatestherelationshipbetweenthesecharacteristicswithcattleoff-take.Aquestionnaireaimedatcapturingcross-sectionaldataonfactorsaffectingcattleoff-takefor2011breedingseasonwasadministeredthroughface-to-faceinterviewsof308respondents.Respondentswerepredominantlymiddleandoldagemales.Householdsheadedbyseniors(65years)tendedtobelargerthanothers.Themajority(58%)ofhouseholdheadsregardedfarmingastheirformofself-employmentwhileonly15%hadtemporaryorpermanentemploymentoutsideagriculture.Most(82%)householdsreliedonincomefromcattlefollowedbyotherlivestock(55%)andsocialgrants(47%).Femaleheadedhouseholdreliedonsmallbusinesses,whichcorrelatedpositivelywiththesaleofcattleandsheep.Householdswhichdependonemploymenthadlessnumberofpersonsattendingtertiaryeducationandsoldmorecows.Asexpected,farmerssoldmoremaleanimals(62.8%)thanfemalesmainlythroughauctionsales.Unlikepreviousstudies,ourstudyshowsthatincomefromoutsideagriculturesupplementscattleoff-take.Householdsowningherdssmallerthan11headhadhigheroverallherdoff-take,aswellasoff-takeforfemalesthansteers.Affiliationtoandofficialpositionincommunityassociationssuppressedthecowsalesbutinducesteeroff-take.Weconcludethatfinancialburdensinhouseholdswithsmallerherdscompelthosehouseholdstosellpotentialbreedingstock.Werecommendthedevelopmentofananimalrecordingsystemandthatfutureinterventionsfocusonthestrengtheningofwomenandcommunityassociations.