Skip to main content

Research, Policy and Practice

Table 2 Characteristics of cattle farm’s types

From: Characterization of smallholder cattle production systems in South-Kivu province, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo

 

Type1

Type2

Type3

Total

Agro-ecological zone (AEZ) (%)

 Medium altitude

42.8

97.7

1.4

50.2

 High altitude

57.2

2.3

98.6

49.8

Gender (%)

 Woman

4.5

3.5

13.7

5.1

 Man

95.5

96.5

86.3

94.9

Marital status (%)

 Divorced

0.5

0.0

1.4

0.5

 Married

99.0

100.0

98.6

99.2

 Widow

0.5

0.0

0.0

0.3

Schooling level (%)

 Illiterate

26.0

8.8

9.6

21.2

 Primary

29.4

33.3

28.8

30.1

 Secondary

42.0

56.7

56.2

46.1

 University

2.6

1.2

5.5

2.5

Main source of income (%)

 Livestock/agriculture

86.9

85.4

75.5

85.7

 Off-farm activity

13.1

14.6

24.6

14.3

Age (years)

47.3 ± 15.0

44.3 ± 13.2

41.0 ± 6.3

46.2 ± 14.2

Experience in cattle farming (years)

15.3 ± 11.3

14.3 ± 9.8

7.3 ± 7.0

14.4 ± 11.0

Grazing system (%)

 Herding

76.7

98.8

21.9

76.5

 Free range in paddocks

10.2

0.6

63.0

12.7

 Zero-grazing

13.1

0.6

15.1

10.8

Other livestock raised (%)

 Goat

91.8

68.4

100.0

87.8

 Pig

47.7

44.4

47.9

47.0

 Poultry

86.3

78.4

100.0

85.9

 Sheep

20.0

28.7

0.0

20.0

Cattle breeds raised (%)

 Local breedsa

99.8

99.4

100.0

99.8

 Exotic breedsb

8.6

15.2

65.8

14.7

 Hybrid breeds

9.2

20.5

65.8

16.2

Feed ration composition (%)

 Forages only

59.0

38.0

83.6

56.9

 Forages + nutritional supplements

41.0

62.0

16.4

43.1

Dietary supplements provision (%)

26.3

22.8

97.3

31.6

Prophylaxis practices (%)

 Pest control

40.9

49.7

78.4

46.0

 Vaccination

70.9

89.5

61.6

73.8

Owned land for livestock (%)

 Less than 5 ha

83.2

53.8

35.1

73.0

 5 ha and more

16.8

46.2

64.9

27.0

Main targeted livestock product (%)

 Milk

95.5

100.0

100.0

96.8

 Meat

72.5

98.8

98.6

79.1

Main farming objective (%)

 Savings

48.9

26.4

75.0

44.9

 Prestige

5.6

0.0

0.0

4.5

 Family subsistence

45.6

73.6

25.0

50.6

Main destination of products (%)

 Self-consumption

4.0

0.6

0.0

3.0

 Sales

96.0

99.4

100.0

97.0

Numerical composition of the herd

 Herd size range

1–40

20–126

41–182

1–182

 Herd size

6.3 ± 6.7

45.1 ± 19.4

78.1 ± 28.1

20.1 ± 26.8

 Number of suckler cows

1.2 ± 1.8

9.0 ± 4.9

37.2 ± 11.8

5.8 ± 10.9

 Number of pregnant cows

1.2 ± 1.5

6.2 ± 4.3

15.2 ± 12.1

3.4 ± 5.9

 Number of sires

1.0 ± 1.0

2.3 ± 2.4

5.9 ± 4.6

1.7 ± 2.3

 Number of heifers

1.0 ± 1.7

6.9 ± 4.7

4.7 ± 4.6

2.5 ± 3.8

 Number of young sires

0.4 ± 1.0

3.1 ± 2.6

6.4 ± 3.3

1.4 ± 2.5

 Total number of calves

0.8 ± 1.2

8.8 ± 4.9

4.3 ± 2.1

2.7 ± 4.1

 Number of male calves

0.4 ± 0.7

3.9 ± 2.4

1.9 ± 0.9

1.2 ± 1.9

 Number of female calves

0.4 ± 0.7

4.9 ± 3.1

2.4 ± 1.7

1.4 ± 2.4

Total number of cattle covered

3909

7704

5699

17,312

Corresponding proportion (%)

22.6

44.5

32.9

100.0

Production

 Weight of an adult (kg)

261.5 ± 56.2

311.3 ± 88.9

362.3 ± 87.3

280.4 ± 74.4

 Number of cattle sold annually

1.2 ± 1.2

1.0 ± 1.6

2.4 ± 1.4

1.3 ± 1.3

 Milk production/female/day (l)

1.8 ± 0.8

1.7 ± 0.7

4.6 ± 2.9

2.9 ± 1.4

  1. aThe local cattle breeds encountered in South-Kivu are “Ankole cattle” and “N’Dama cattle”, with a stronger predominance of the “Ankole cattle”
  2. bThe exotic cattle breeds encountered in South-Kivu are predominantly the “Frisone dell Holstein cattle” and the “Brown Swiss cattle”