Challenges facing communal farmers to improve cattle production and marketing systems in Namibia: case study from Omaheke region

[摘要] The objective of the study was to examine the efficiency and constraints of cattle managerialpractices and marketing systems in the four communal areas of the Omaheke region. Thespecific objectives of the study were to identify the most crucial managerial aspects having anegative effect on sustainable cattle production; to examine the sustainability of cattle supplychain management from farmer to processor; to examine the accessibility of market informationto farmers and to identify the factors influencing the supply of cattle to market. The study wasconducted in four communal areas, namely Aminius, Epukiro, Otjinene and Otjombinde of theOmaheke region in Namibia during 2008 and 2009. Questionnaires were developed andadministered to 670 communal farmers and key informants of 3 farmers' associations, 4farmers' co-operatives, a cattle auctioneer and beef processor. Data from questionnaires wereentered into MS Excel spreadsheet and descriptive results analysis was done using StatisticalPackage for Social Sciences (SPSS). In terms of examining the factors influencing the supplyof cattle to market, Weighted Least Square (WLS) was used.The main constraints identified in the production system were incorrect bull:cow ratio (1 :38), lowcalving percentage and cattle mortalities and losses. The main causes of cattle mortalities andlosses in the communal areas are drought, diseases, straying and theft, with a farmer losing anaverage of ten cattle per year. The managerial practices found to negate sustainable cattleproduction are weaning practices and record keeping. Communal cattle farmers are not utilisingthe available agricultural support services and constraints identified in the production systemand shortcomings found in the managerial practices could be addresed if farmers visited theextension and veterinary offices for advice.In terms of marketing, the farmers were found to not be satisfied with the existing market andsatisfaction levels of farmers differed significantly (p<0.05). The majority of farmers do not knowthe quality criteria used by buyers when determining prices for cattle classes and grades(p<0.05). The accessibility to market information was found not to be a constraint. The constraints facing the communal cattle farmers include low prices offered for cattle, buyers' latearrival or no show, slow payment process and buyers running out of cash, whereas those foundto be facing auctioneers and buyers operating in communal areas include buying of poor qualitycattle, and few number of cattle offer for sale. The lack of essential and safe facilities at marketoutlets was expressed as a constraint to cattle farmers, auctioneers and buyers in the studyareas.The factors found to have an influence (p

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