Sheep rearing under tree crop plantation in Ghana's forest zone: Problems and prospects

F.K. Fianu, P.C. Addae and L. Adjorlolo

Department of Animal Science, University of Ghana, Legon

Abstract
Introduction
Methodology
Results
Conclusions
References

Abstract

A study was conducted to identify the potential of, and constraints to integrating sheep into tree crop plantations in Ghana. Nine farmers who practiced the system wholly (Group 1) or partly (Group 2), and five other sheep owners who were not practicing it (Group 3), were interviewed and their husbandry practices observed. Management standards were poor among all groups. Diarrhoea, foot rot and skin conditions were common. Fertility and prolificacy varied within flocks. Within groups, prolificacy reflected breed composition: the Djallonké and Ouda being more prolific than Nungua Blackhead derivatives. Constraints to adopting integrated sheep-tree crop plantation production included theft of animals while grazing, crop damage by straying animals, remoteness of plantations, lack of capital, high cost of breeding stock and absentee ownership. Suggestions are made for enhancing the adoption of the technology.

Introduction

Cover crops are planted under tree crop plantations to control soil erosion, improve soil fertility and smother weeds. These covers, however, grow rapidly tending to choke the tree crops, and have to be kept in check through expensive labour use. On the other hand, they can be converted into meat (Hodges 1983; Devendra 1991). Manure from the livestock also cuts the fertiliser bill. Besides, the technology diversifies farm produce thus reducing risk and intensifying land use.

Stock rearing under tree crops therefore affords Ghana, and indeed the West African subregion, an opportunity to expand the sheep industry in the forest zone without altering the farmer's main activity of crop production. Citrus and oil palm rank after cocoa as the main cash crops in the forest zone of Ghana. Most households keep some sheep and there is a long history of integrating sheep into tree crops on agricultural stations.

Following are a few examples of sheep integration into tree crop plantations at agricultural station level in different regions of Ghana.

Wilson and Lansbury (1958) cited the 1938 investigations into the nutritive quality of leguminous cover crops under tree crops in the Central Region. These authors also reported on sheep grazing under citrus plantations at Asuansi and Mankessim Agricultural Stations. Data on weather conditions and herbage quality during that study are given in Tables 1 and 2, respectively. Green herbage yield averaged 20.8 t/ha per year. Stocking rate was about 13.6 sheep/ha, and in the 11 months liveweight gain aggregated to 90.7 kg/ha in Djallonké sheep.

At the University of Ghana's Agricultural Research Station (ARS) in Okumaning-Kade in the Eastern Region, oil palm, citrus, cola, mango and avocado plantations were established for agronomic studies in the late 1950s. Sheep were introduced in 1972 to take advantage of the lush cover crops. Centrosema and Pueraria constitute the main diet of the animals in these plantations. However, a wide range of volunteer fortes and grasses, e.g. Panicum maximum, are also selected as cultivated leguminous cover crops diminish with heavy grazing. Table 2 gives the chemical composition of the top three forages at the ARS. The high quality of these forages is apparent, although the Ca:P ratio of the legumes is slightly high. On account of dwindling herbage biomass due to the dense overhead canopy of many old plantations, the stocking rate dropped from 11-18 sheep/ha in 1972 to 3 sheer/ha today. The breeds are mainly Djallonké and Nungua Blackhead derivatives. Flock performance in 1990-92 was as follows: average birth weight, 2.3±0.17 kg; preweaning liveweight gain, 80.5±3.4 kg; post-weaning gain, 27 g/d; yearling weight, 20-30 kg; fertility, 93.2% of ewes exposed; fecundity, 130% of ewes exposed; lamb crop, 94.4% of lambs born; lamb mortality, 5.6% of lambs born alive.

Table 1. Summary of meteorological data at Asuansi and Kade.

Sources: Asuansi data adapted from Wilson and Lansbury (1958) and Kade data adapted from ARS files.

Table 2. Chemical composition of some grazed cover crops at Asuansi and Kade.

* Source: Wilson and Lansbury (1958).
** Source: Fianu and Adjorlolo (unpublished).

As part of the UNDP-Ghana Government Sheep and Goat Development programme, Djallonké sheep were introduced into a palm plantation at Juaso, in the Ashanti Region, from 1978 to 1992. Here again, animals weighed 16 kg at six months compared with eight months elsewhere (Oppong-Anane 1981).

Notwithstanding the demonstrated potential of integrating sheep production into tree crops by the work at these stations, few farmers in Ghana have adopted this technology. The objective of this study was therefore to find out why this technology is not widely adopted and to suggest ways to facilitate its wide adoption.

Methodology

With the help of agricultural veterinary officers and some farmers, nine sheep flocks integrated into plantation tree crops were identified. The farmers were interviewed with a questionnaire as a guide. Each plantation was visited several times to observe the animals between September 1992 and January 1993. Three other holdings were studied, which were not using the technology but had sheep and plantations.

Results

Profiles of respondents and their farms

Five farmers (Group 1) were rearing sheep exclusively under their oil palm plantations. Four others (Group 2) used plantations but also occasionally grazed their stock on wasteland while three (Group 3) only used wasteland (Table 3). No sheep were being reared under citrus and cocoa plantations. Because goats tended to roam farther afield causing more frequent crop damage than sheep, only all-sheep flocks were selected for all groups. The sheep breeds encountered were 60% Djallonké, 29% Ouda and its crosses, 7% Nungua Blackhead X Djallonké crosses and 4% Yankasa crosses. All the Nungua Blackhead derivatives were found in Group 1.

The ages of the 12 farmers ranged from 33-74 years of age. Their formal education varied from nil to tertiary. Their plantations sizes ranged from 3 to 16 ha and their flock sizes ranged from 7 to 58 head. Flock sizes were, however, larger for groups 1 and 2. Only three of the 12 farmers were full time farmers, the others had additional occupations.

Animals are grazed under plantations for a number of reasons, namely to use the copious feed resources and keep down weeds, to derive extra income especially for meeting emergency expenses such as school fees, hospital bills etc. and to furnish meat for festivities such as Christmas and Easter celebrations. The flocks in Group 1 were managed by men whereas those in groups 2 and 3 were tended by women and children.

Table 3. General information on respondents.

Flock housing and feeding

Pens were generally fenced with planks of timber and roofed with thatch or salvaged aluminium sheets. The floors were earthen or concrete. Water was provided in the pens ad libitum.

For groups 1 and 2 grazing was from 1000 to 1830 hours and stocking rates varied from 0.92 to 7.35 head/ha with an average of 3.67 head/ha. Grazing was continuous as the pastures were not subdivided. Flocks in Group 3 were all in Kade town and by law had to be penned from 0900 to 1600 hours and were released thereafter to scavenge for food around town. Supplementary feeding and feed supplements used varied within and between groups. For example, in Kade (Table 4), except for one farmer in Group 1, all farmers feed cassava and plantain peels as supplements to their animals. Corn grain supplementation was more popular among farmers who did not use their plantations for grazing their animals. These farmers did not, however, supply salt licks to their animals as observed for farmers in groups 1 and 2.

Although only three farmers had planted Centrosema and Pueraria, these plants were highly frequent in all the plantations studied. Herbage species grazed under the palms included the following: Aspilia africana, Asystasia gangetica, Centrosema pubescens, Euphorbia hirta, E. heterophylla, Panicum maximum, P. Iaxum, Phyllanthus muellerianus and Pueraria phaseoloides.

Table 4. Feeding regime and reproductive performance of sheep in Kade area.

*  Peels of plantain and cassava;
+ indicates supplement used.

Breeding management

The mating ratio was 3 to 9 ewes per ram. One flock in Group 3 had no ram and depended on other 'scavenging' flocks for ram service. Breeding was year round but 76% of the ewes lambed every eight months, 20% twice a year, and 4% once a year. Neonate lambs were penned for 2 to 3 weeks and allowed to graze only around the pens. In four farms, lambs dropped in the rainy season were provided with heat in the pen for the first two weeks, by burning firewood every night.

Health maintenance

Farmers in Group 3 never consulted a veterinarian but those in Group 2 called the vet during crises, e.g. severe diarrhoea while farmers in Group 1 consulted the ARS vet almost monthly. Common health problems were helminthiasis, foot rot, skin disorders, inappetence, coughs, fractures and cuts. Ethnoveterinary practices were noted in all groups, for example, sulphur drugs, known as 'M&B' were given with charcoal for diarrhoea foot rot was treated with lime juice and skin disorders with shea butter. Overall mean lamb mortality (Table 4) was significantly (P<0.05) higher in Group 2 (33.9%) than in groups I (24.2%) and 3 (14.4%). Adult mortality (0-6.7%) noted in Group I was from injuries inflicted by farmers whose crops had been damaged by the animals.

Reproductive performance

Fertility (number of lambing ewes as a percentage of ewes exposed to the ram) was 96.5% in Group 3,90.5% in Group I and 86.3% in Group 2 (Table 4). The differences were not significant (P>0.05). Lambs born as a percentage of ewes lambing (prolificacy) ranged from 140-180%. On average, the flocks in Group 2 were the most prolific (173%) followed by those in groups 3 (157%) and 1 (154%). Prolificacy was also highest in flocks dominated by Djallonkés and Oudas as these are inherently more prolific than the Nungua Blackhead. Fertility and prolificacy varied remarkably with flocks within groups.

Farmers' perceptions of impediments to adoption

The following are the indicated constraints to the adoption of integrated tree crop-sheep production technology among smallholder farmers. The percentage of respondents indicating each constraint is indicated in brackets:

· Theft of animals bars absentee farmers from integrating sheep into their palms (92%).

· Crop damage by sheep (83%) leading to their being killed and to quarrels with neighbours (53%).

· Lack of credit to enable the farmer to put up pens and a farmstead (75%).

· Scarcity and high cost of breeding stock (75%).

· Dearth of dedicated shepherds that tend the animals (67%).

Remoteness of plantations from the town made it difficult to sell animals reared (42%).

Researchers' perceptions of the constraints

Technical know-how

The Ghanaian farmer is basically a crop producer and not a livestock husbandman. Certainly the technology of integrating sheep into tree crops poses peculiar technical challenges that must be properly addressed through strong extension support.

Lack of business attitude towards livestock rearing

Fianu (1993) argues that the main hindrance to adopting livestock innovation is the lack of a business attitude to livestock and that this is rooted in the culture of Ghanian farmers. Thus a plantation owner will regularly cart his crop to distant markets but not his animals.

Credit is not an issue for residing on the plantation either, for most farmers normally take up residence in a makeshift shelter when they break new ground to develop crop farms. They do not seek credit for it. Only a commitment to livestock rearing as a business will motivate the farmer to live on his plantation on account of his sheep.

Prospective farmers, land tenure and credit

Prospective farmers present a different problem. They face both land tenure and credit constraints in starting a plantation. None of the palm farmers studied had any problem with land acquisition because they were members of the land owning group by birth or marriage, or had share-cropping arrangements with the caretakers. However, the two farmers who had 50% share-cropping arrangements (ABUNU) reported frequent queries from various members of the royal family. Generally, foreigners face serious barriers to land acquisition for plantation tree crops or livestock rearing. Those gaining access to land through marriage also stand the risk of eviction on the demise of their spouses.

Lack of capital is a further constraint for prospective farmers. Most prospective farmers are youths with the technical know-how but without collateral. Yet it is such farmers who can readily break through the cultural barriers to commercial stock rearing.

Conclusions

Sheep integration into plantation tree crops has a great potential in Ghana and West Africa in general. The full realisation of this potential, however, demands a comprehensive extension package to specifically popularise animal rearing as a business. Then the complementarily between tree crops and livestock can be seen as an extra bonus to tree cropping. The probable major problems to be addressed by the package are outlined below.

Land tenure. State intervention by acquiring blocks of land for lease to prospective farmers could help.

Credit. Recognition of professional diplomas as forms of collateral has not always worked. The loopholes can, however, be tightened and co-operatives made conduits for such credit which must be largely in kind.

Cost of inputs. The scarcity of breeding stock is partly because owners are unwilling to sell, and partly because Government breeding farms cannot cope with the demand. The answer lies in 'outgrowers' selected to multiply stocks from breeders for sale to other farmers. Further, the high cost of veterinary drugs serves as a challenge to develop traditional herbal remedies. Ethnoveterinary practices need to be enhanced.

Diseases. A high rate of helminthiasis, foot rot, coccidiosis and ectoparasite infestation is fostered by the humid conditions under the plantation canopy. Their control should be central in the technological package and manure should be composted before being applied to the crops, to cheek the recycling of helminths.

Canopy closure. This will drastically reduce feed production after the 12th year of existence. Crop residues could come to the rescue here. It may also be possible to reopen the canopy by judicious pruning of palm fronds or felling of some palm trees. Alternatively, the trees may be widely spaced so as to avoid total canopy closure. However, these need to be researched into, to work out the economies of accepting crop losses for lamb increases.

Overgrazing. This will increase erosion hazard through soil compaction, and cause a population explosion of Chromolaena adorata and other weeds. Crops like citrus, may suffer debarking. There will therefore be a need for regular farm visits by technical personnel to advise on grazing pressure.

Damage to arable crops. This could be prevented by fencing. To cut down costs, live fences could be planted using the tree crops.

Mixed species. Other species of animals like goats, cattle and poultry could be tried. However, cattle could choke to death by swallowing fallen citrus fruits, especially if they are mature but not ripe.

Record keeping. This should be part of the package so as to avoid subsidising the animals from crop sales or vice versa.

Marketing animals. Regular and prompt marketing of animals when they reach economic maturity is a sine qua non for any significant improvement in animal production. It could even be made a condition for access of the package by interested farmers.

References

Devendra C. 1991. Potential integration of small ruminants with tree cropping systems in Asia and the South Pacific. World Animal Review 66: 13-22.

Fianu F.K. 1993. Cultural barriers to adoption of livestock innovation in Ghana. In: Proceedings of the Australia-Pacific Extension Conference held in Surfers Paradise, Queensland. Volume 1. pp. 275-278.

Hodges J. 1983. Integrating Crops and Livestock in West Africa. FAO Animal Production and Health Paper 104. FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations), Rome, Italy. 309 pp.

Oppong-Anane K. 1981. Final Report: Government of Ghana-UNDP Sheep and Goat Development Programme. Paper GH 72-104. FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations), Rome, Italy.

Wilson A.S.B. and Lansbury J.T. 1958. Centrosema pubescens ground cover and forage crop in cleared rain forest in Ghana. Imperial Journal of Experimental Agriculture 26(108):351-364.