KAWA MULTIMEDIA PUBLICATIONS
Ranching in Africa
The best way of raising cattle is on a ranch within a certain defined area. The range land is managed in such a way that overgrazing is eliminated and grazing or supplementary food is always available. With United Nations or governmental help semi-nomads in many countries are being encouraged to settle down to this method.
Water holes are created and grazing is controlled by dividing the ranch, which may be up to 50000 hectares, into a series of fenced off sections known as paddocks. There are never too many cattle and they are moved from paddock to paddock, in such a way as to ensure that once a paddock has been grazed it has time to fully recover its grass cover before being used again.
In the dry season extra food is given to the cattle, and throughout the year they are dipped every week to eliminate tick-borne diseases. Areas with ranches like these are found in the Laikipia Plateau region of Kenya. Others have been developed in the Maasai country between Nairobi and the Tanzania border.
There, "Group Ranches have been formed with thirty to forty families owning a ranch big enough to support them and their cattle. One at Poka, has 12000 hectares supporting a herd of 2000 cattle: a land carrying ratio of 6 hectares per beast.
For ranches like these, government loans and credits are necessary for improvements like fencing, digging water holes, building earth dams, buying machinery, building cattle dips and roads and buying improved breeding stock.
Other ranching areas are found on the Bie Plateau in Angola, in Zambia and Zimbabwe. The biggest ranch of all in Africa is planned for Sudan, to be developed by a private company with Saudi Arabian and American capital.
Situated between the Dinder River and the Blue Nile it is hoped, ultimately, to provide 3000 jobs and process 100000 cattle a year; as well as growing its own cattle food and some cash crops by using Roseires Dam water. Part of a 400000 hectare project, it is intended to assist nomads to settle down on 150 livestock ranches, as well as about 1000 small irrigated arable farms.
Botswana is a country which, until the recent discovery, and exploitation of diamond pipes and copper-nickel deposits, was entirely dependent on cattle and cattle products for export earnings. With foreign assistance, some of it from the European Economic Community, a ranch training scheme has been introduced.
Demonstration ranches have been built to which farmers can go with their own cattle to learn modern method. They are taught the principles of paddock grazing how to build simple dams and cattle dips, and the need for their regular use. Above all they are taught that quality is more important that quantity and that regular sales can not only produce an income, but will help protect their land from overgrazing.
Botswana has always sent most of her meat to the United Kingdom via South African Railway. This is done from the Lobatse abbattoir, the biggest in Africa and as modern as any in Europe. In 1979 Botswana sold 16000 tonnes of beef to Britain and, until 1976, supplied 80% of Zambia' beef requirements. She also exports 900 tonnes month to Angola.
Zambia is an example of a country whose pastoralism is still largely traditional. She has cattle population of approximately 2.2 million, of which 1.9 million belong to traditional pastoralists who place great value on numbers and rarely ever sell. Of the rest 260000 belong to commercial farmers, while about 44000 belong to State ranches which are trying to pass on modern methods and ideas to the traditionalists.
It is in Zambia that, arguably, the greatest feat of land reclamation in the whole of Africa possible- It was proved before 1900 when, under the leadership of King Lewarika of the Lozi people, simple canals were dug throughout the flood plain margins of the Upper Zambezi region of Bulozi.
Parts of this huge, annually flooded area were thus drained for food production an grazing. Unfortunately this system fell into disrepair, for reasons too numerous and complicate to recount here. Since then, there has been a annual transhumance away from the flooded plains in the rainy season and back to the river the dry season.
Money (the old old story) and the will to cooperate and succeed could transform this region into the agricultural and ranching success story of all time in Africa. A series of dams, a few hundred kilometres of simply built canals, together with a international Zambezi River Authority could largely control these floods to everyone's mutual benefit and greatly diminish South Africa' economic influence on the Zambezi Valley countries.
Water holes are created and grazing is controlled by dividing the ranch, which may be up to 50000 hectares, into a series of fenced off sections known as paddocks. There are never too many cattle and they are moved from paddock to paddock, in such a way as to ensure that once a paddock has been grazed it has time to fully recover its grass cover before being used again.
In the dry season extra food is given to the cattle, and throughout the year they are dipped every week to eliminate tick-borne diseases. Areas with ranches like these are found in the Laikipia Plateau region of Kenya. Others have been developed in the Maasai country between Nairobi and the Tanzania border.
There, "Group Ranches have been formed with thirty to forty families owning a ranch big enough to support them and their cattle. One at Poka, has 12000 hectares supporting a herd of 2000 cattle: a land carrying ratio of 6 hectares per beast.
For ranches like these, government loans and credits are necessary for improvements like fencing, digging water holes, building earth dams, buying machinery, building cattle dips and roads and buying improved breeding stock.
Other ranching areas are found on the Bie Plateau in Angola, in Zambia and Zimbabwe. The biggest ranch of all in Africa is planned for Sudan, to be developed by a private company with Saudi Arabian and American capital.
Situated between the Dinder River and the Blue Nile it is hoped, ultimately, to provide 3000 jobs and process 100000 cattle a year; as well as growing its own cattle food and some cash crops by using Roseires Dam water. Part of a 400000 hectare project, it is intended to assist nomads to settle down on 150 livestock ranches, as well as about 1000 small irrigated arable farms.
Botswana is a country which, until the recent discovery, and exploitation of diamond pipes and copper-nickel deposits, was entirely dependent on cattle and cattle products for export earnings. With foreign assistance, some of it from the European Economic Community, a ranch training scheme has been introduced.
Demonstration ranches have been built to which farmers can go with their own cattle to learn modern method. They are taught the principles of paddock grazing how to build simple dams and cattle dips, and the need for their regular use. Above all they are taught that quality is more important that quantity and that regular sales can not only produce an income, but will help protect their land from overgrazing.
Botswana has always sent most of her meat to the United Kingdom via South African Railway. This is done from the Lobatse abbattoir, the biggest in Africa and as modern as any in Europe. In 1979 Botswana sold 16000 tonnes of beef to Britain and, until 1976, supplied 80% of Zambia' beef requirements. She also exports 900 tonnes month to Angola.
Zambia is an example of a country whose pastoralism is still largely traditional. She has cattle population of approximately 2.2 million, of which 1.9 million belong to traditional pastoralists who place great value on numbers and rarely ever sell. Of the rest 260000 belong to commercial farmers, while about 44000 belong to State ranches which are trying to pass on modern methods and ideas to the traditionalists.
It is in Zambia that, arguably, the greatest feat of land reclamation in the whole of Africa possible- It was proved before 1900 when, under the leadership of King Lewarika of the Lozi people, simple canals were dug throughout the flood plain margins of the Upper Zambezi region of Bulozi.
Parts of this huge, annually flooded area were thus drained for food production an grazing. Unfortunately this system fell into disrepair, for reasons too numerous and complicate to recount here. Since then, there has been a annual transhumance away from the flooded plains in the rainy season and back to the river the dry season.
Money (the old old story) and the will to cooperate and succeed could transform this region into the agricultural and ranching success story of all time in Africa. A series of dams, a few hundred kilometres of simply built canals, together with a international Zambezi River Authority could largely control these floods to everyone's mutual benefit and greatly diminish South Africa' economic influence on the Zambezi Valley countries.