traditional pig-keeping system in Bamendjo

[Jacky Foo]

Source: http://www.iobbnet.org/drupal/node/view/962/3188#comment-3188
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traditional pig-keeping system in Bamendjo
Submitted by Jacky Foo on Fri, 04/05/2007 - 10:19.
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Dear Jackson

As I understand from your paper, the traditional systems of keeping
animals in Bamendjo is the free-range method, i.e. pigs are let loose
and allowed to free range anywhere they like. They are not tied with a
string nor enclosed in a fenced area.

Q: what is the maximum number of free-ranged pigs can a family
manage ?

Q: Do the pigs return "home" for the night or does the family have to
round them up ?

>The rearing of pigs has, in recent years, experienced a rapid
>move from the traditional free range systems to a management
>system in which greater numbers of pigs are kept permanently
>in the pigsty.

Do you have any pictures of pigsties used ?

What would the increase in the number of pigs be if a farmer shifts
from free range to pigsties ? Do you have any specific examples ?

-----
Jacky Foo
http://www.iobbnet.org

[Jacky Foo]

Source: http://www.iobbnet.org/drupal/node/view/962/3194#comment-3194

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pigs in confinement+free range after crop harvest
Submitted by Jacky Foo on Fri, 04/05/2007 - 18:34.
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Dear Jackson and Henry

You wrote:
>Heifer is supporting four farmer groups. One of these groups
> is common initiative group Eleveurs Agriculteurs Solidaires
>de Bamboutous, consisting of 10 local farmer families.
>Keeping pigs and eating pork is part of their culture. Most
>families in this area have long-term experience with keeping
>pigs, but productivity has been low. Only 2-6 piglets were
>born per sow, while fattening of the animals could take up
>to 16 months before they could be sold. Generally, they kept
> their animals in fenced areas, sometimes with cemented
>floors. Often, the animals were allowed to roam free after the
>crops were harvested. While in confinement, the animals were
>fed only with some kitchen waste, grass and, if within their
>means, sometimes a little bit of concentrate feeds. There was
>often no money for vaccination or routine deworming of their
>animals and African swine fever was rampant. The manure
>produced by the animals was rarely used to improve crop
>production. Consequently, in the past, pig-keeping did not
>contribute much to improving the livelihoods of farm families
>here.

this is an interesting system especially allowing them to roam free
after the crops were harvested.

In North west Cambodia, many household (family) pig farmers mix their
own feed and use rice bran + milled maize (which are available at a
low cost when compared to commercial feed). Traditionally pigs are
given a cooked meal of a mixture of whatever the farmer can get hold
of and with some additions of maize grain and greens. When rice bran
+milled maize is given (cooked traditionally or in the powdered form),
then fresh stems (leftovers) of water spinach crop or water spinachs
that grown on a pond (fertilised with pig manure) is given. So rice
bran+milled maize is the "modern" introduction to their traditional
method.

The income from a pig (even if sold once a year) is substantial since
1 kilo of fresh pork sells in the market for 4-7 US$. Pig's feed can
fetch a price of 4 US$/kg. Pork is an expensive meat. The cost of
production is low. If I remember right, 1 US$ can get you 10 kg of
rice bran.

So I am surprised to read that in Bamendjo:
>.... in the past, pig-keeping did not contribute much
>to improving the livelihoods of farm families here.

Q: what is the price of pork in Bamendjo ?

[jackkson ntapi]

The price of pork varies within a range of 1.2- 2 US $/kg and this is just half the market price in Cambodia. In Bamendjo and in Cameroon at large, there is no price control system in the agricultural sector that can ensure that farmers make profit from their activities. The price of feed inputs increases irrespective of whether farmers will make profit from the sales of their animal or not. Prices for feed ingredients have basically double across the years but that of meat have not.

 

The observation you made is very interesting and is an important prerequisite in making a decision for any changes within a traditional system of production which I know were considered before the commencement of the project in Bamendjo. It will be interesting to have information about the profit margin, the different parameters used in evaluating cost of production, the losses associated to theft or disease. Without any doubt if you do an exhaustive cost-benefit analysis in such a system without being bias (considering all factors of costs ranging from family labour, theft, losses due to diseases, time loss due to slow growth rates and low reproduction performance, difficulty in collecting manure), you will discover that it will be more beneficial if a shift to an ameliorated system is adopted by farmers.

When farmers are capable of fattening at least two batches of pigs each year, get organize to respond to market opportunities (can supply a given quantity at a given time because they can reduce risk or better control factors of production) then they can plan for the future. The profit margin per animal sold in Bamendjo increases across the years. As farmers reduce their dependency on commercial feed by producing more feed stuffs on-farm, as farmers increase savings within the group and are capable to purchase feed input in bulk, as farmers become more and more verse with the market forces and thus can penetrate the formal market the profit margin improves and the chances of sustainability are better than in a traditional system where the animals are left on their own at the mercy of negative environmental factors. The shift does not mean that farmers do not exploit other sources of feed like kitchen left overs, green forage, harvest residues which i did not include in my calculations in a previous mail when i was estimating the cost of feeding (didn't evaluate the cost of these feed items) . The idea is to add to these sources other sources of feed that can enable enable an optimum weight gain for the animals.

 

 

 

Jacky Foo <jack...@gmail.com> wrote:

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