Livestock production challenges in the rangelands ecosystem of South Sudan
Prof. A.L. Abate
abateal@yahoo.com
Paper presented at the Workshop on Environmental Management Plan for Post-conflict
Sudan, Raha Hotel, Juba, South Sudan, October 31-November 2nd, 2006
Abstract
The rangelands of South Sudan boast a large number of animals available in significant
numbers in all livelihoods zones except the tsetse fly infested southwesterly Green Belt
where only small ruminants may be found. The communities who keep the livestock also
grow crops in a closely linked agro-pastoral production system. A sophisticated rhythm
of seasonal mobility, perfected over generations, has sustained a large number of animals
in the range, which by recent counts includes about 8 million cattle. Thus, not only do the
rangelands contribute to the livelihoods of the local inhabitants, they are also the basis of
a livestock industry with huge potential for export trading. A number of measures are
discussed for sustainable utilization of the range while protecting the environment.
Among these are the need to understand, through research, the variability and diversity of
the agropastoralist system and efficient management of water resources, grazing and
animal populations. A number of areas requiring enabling policies are pointed out.
Introduction
With an area of 640,00.00 km2 and a population estimated at 5.3 million in 1998 (FAO,
1998) and most probably around the 8.0 million mark, at present, South Sudan is
endowed with immense mineral and agricultural wealth. Deliberate and consistent
neglect, mismanagement, marginalisation and underdevelopment, over 50 years, by
successive regimes meant that the natural resources sector of the area, excepting recent
exploitation of its oil reserves, has not been open to investment and development.
Following the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement in 2005, there have been
concerted efforts on the part of the Government of Southern Sudan (GOSS) to revitalize
various sectors of the Southern economy and particularly its agriculture on which the
majority of the people depend for their livelihoods. Livestock production, a major
component of agriculture, has been subjected to numerous shocks including intra- and
inter-communal raiding, looting, shortages of grazing due to drought and seasonal
flooding all of which have disrupted the production patterns across the region (FAO,
1998; Forum for Livelihoods Analysis, 2005). This paper will show that the livelihoods
of most of the population of South Sudan revolve around livestock raised in rangelands.
It will further address some of the challenges affecting the livestock industry with a view
to developing areas and opportunities on which informed decisions on policy and strategy
could be made as affected by livestock and rangelands interactions.
Nature of rangelands
Rangelands are areas, which by reason of low and erratic precipitation, rough
topography, fragile soils and poor drainage, are unsuitable for cropping but are a source
of forage for free ranging wild and domestic animals as well as a source of forest
products such as wood and wild foods. They consist of natural grassland, bush and
woodland. Rangelands provide environmental amenities such as scenery and open space
and are increasingly being used for various recreational pursuits such as game viewing
and trophy hunting. The vegetation in the South Sudan rangelands is savanna grassland
dominated with acacia trees in the low rainfall areas becoming lusher with high value
perennial grass species and intermittent woodlands in areas with higher rainfall. These
savannas surround inland floodplains, which provide animals with good dry season
grazing or toich. The importance of both savannas and toich is evident in their
contribution to the livelihoods of the local inhabitants and the potential significance of
livestock in the economy of South Sudan. Besides sustaining a large number of cattle, the
range areas also support the cultivation of various crops such as maize, sorghum, millet,
cowpeas, greengrams etc.
Livelihood zones
Eastern Flood Plains
Subsistence cropping of sorghum and maize, and an enormous dependence on cattle
keeping are the main characteristics of this zone. Ethnically, the zone is inhabited by the
Murle, Jie, Nuer and Dinka who also fish and gather wildfoods such as forest fruits,
leaves, seeds and nuts, mushrooms, honey etc.
Green Belt
This zone consists of Western and parts of Central Equatoria States and receives good
rains that reach 1800 mm per annum (FAO, 1998). It is inhabited by farming
communities who grow a variety of crops including sorghum, maize, cassava, groundnuts
and simsim over two growing seasons. The Green Belt is tsetse fly infested and so is
unsuitable for livestock except for small populations of sheep and goats. The
communities (Kakwa, Moru, Zande etc.) who live here are sedentary and engage in nonlivestock trade that extends internally from Yei to Juba and Bahr el Ghazel and
internationally to Congo, Uganda and Central African Republic. The Green Belt enjoyed
relatively high levels of security until recent incursions and raids by the Lords Resistance
Army (LRA) and inter-ethnic conflicts around Yambio.
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Hills and Mountains
Eastern Equatoria mainly represents this zone. The Taposa, Latuko, Acholi and other
communities who live here, keep livestock and are generally sedentary moving only to
nearby grazing areas in the dry season. They farm a variety of crops over two seasons in
some areas of the zone.
Ironstone Plateau
This zone extends from Terekeka northwards up to the Cueibet/Tonj and Wau areas.
Communities (Mundari, Dinka etc.) who keep primarily small ruminants inhabit the
Ironstone Plateau. The predominant crops grown in the area include sorghum, cassava,
groundnuts and simsim.
Nile Sobat Corridor
Abundant resources along the Nile and Sobat rivers have supported communities that
fish, keep cattle and farm crops, predominantly sorghum, in this zone. The inhabitants
(Nuer, Dinka etc.) enjoy a wide variety of foods and sufficient water throughout the year
from its rivers and swamps. Good rains often result in flooding of low-lying farms
particularly in the swamps of Bor, Zeraf and Panyinjar and ensure access to fish, wild
foods and ratoon crops.
Western Flood Plains
Livestock keeping communities who also grow sorghum, groundnuts, simsim and maize
occupy the Western Flood Plains of greater Bahr el Ghazel. The gathering of wild foods
and fishing are important activities and sources of food in this zone. There is interregional trade for surpluses from Gogrial, Tonj, Rumbek and Wau into communities in
North Sudan.
Major livestock communities
Livestock is key to food security and to the social and economic well being of about 80%
(FEWS, 2006) of the population of South Sudan. Cately et al. (2005) have categorised the
main livestock communities into pastoralists and agropastoralists although evidence from
the livelihoods patterns above would describe all livestock keepers as agropastoralists.
The relatively dry and lowland areas of Eastern Equatoria is inhabited by Taposa, Jie,
Murle and Nyangatom agropastoralists while the Mundari, Dinka and Nuer live in the
flood plains around the Nile tributaries and in what is popularly known as the Nile
Corridor which is the area surrounding the Nile, Sobat, Pibor and Zeraf rivers. Smaller
numbers of livestock are also kept in the hills and mountain zone east of the Nile in
Equatoria (Cately et al., 2005). Cattle, sheep, goats and donkeys are the major species in
the livestock rearing areas; the introduction of camels into Eastern Equatoria in the early
sixties was deemed unsustainable. Milk and meat constitute 30, 40 and 65% of the diet in
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a normal year food economy for the Dinka, Nuer and Taposa respectively (Fielding et al.,
2000). The Taposa cherish blood with their meat and do not eat fish but similar to the
other ethnic communities they also consume wild foods and crops.
Production Systems
Rainfall in the livestock producing areas is variable, rarely exceeds 850 mm per annum
(FAO, 1998) and is similar to precipitation in the rangelands of Kenya (see Abate et al.,
1995). The rain is sufficient to support grass species of the genera Agrostis, Panicum,
Cenchrus, Echnicloa, Andropogan, Brachiaria, Sporobola, Chloris, Sorghum and
Hyparrhenia associated with browse species of Acacia, Balonites, Indigofera, Leucaena
and Carica (Elis, 1982). The nutritive value of some these species given in Table 1 show
them to contain high levels of essential nutrients and energy.
Table 1: Chemical composition (g kg-1 DM) and energy value (MJ kg-1 DM) of grass and
browse species native to South Sudan rangelands1
Species
CP
CF
Ca
P
ME
Cenchrus ciliaris
Panicum maximum
Pennisetum purpureum
Chloris gayana
Sorghum arundinaceum
Hyparrhenia rufa
Acacia albida fruit
Acacia tortilis leaves
Balonites aegyptiaca
leaves
Leucaena leucocephala
leaves
56.1
97.2
77.9
81.3
67.3
42.0
109.0
128.4
116.5
488.0
433.5
334.8
456.1
504.5
376.5
202.5
105.0
164.0
3.8
4.1
4.0
3.9
4.9
2.63
38.5
4.8
1.5
1.7
2.1
1.9
2.9
1.5
2.2
0.5
8.32
9.36
7.68
8.48
8.32
9.04
11.80
11.94
11.20
218.6
200.5
5.6
3.2
11.52
1
After Elis (1982)
- indicates values not available
For the Toposa, Murle, Jie and Nyangatom, the production system is defined by
transhumant movement of animals and people from permanent, wet season homesteads in
search of water and grazing. Similarly, in the flood plains of the north and west, Nuer and
Dinka herders move their animals to nutritionally high dry season grazing or toich when
flood waters recede and return them to higher ground when the rains begin. Only in the
dry season when tsetse populations have fallen can cattle graze in the hills and mountain
zone; with the onset of rains, tsetse numbers build up forcing herds back to the lowlands
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(Cately et al., 2005). These movements notwithstanding, breeding of cattle among the
livestock keepers is timed so that calving coincides with periods of pasture availability. It
is estimated that the transhumant agropastoralist production system sustains between 5
and 8 million cattle (Jones, 2001; WFP, 2004) in the rangelands of South Sudan.
Besides providing food, manure and hides and skins, South Sudanese livestock is often
sold or exchanged for grain. Over the years, markets have emerged and thrived albeit
under constrained conditions particularly of security. Internal and external trade in cattle
have been summarised from the reports of the Forum for Livelihoods Analysis (2005)
and Cately et al. (2005) viz: In the Eastern Flood Plains militia activity in this zone
limited market activity into Bentiu, Malakal and Nasir. Similalry, LRA activity
constrained movement within the Hills and Mountains zone and restricted trading from
Eastern Equatoria to Juba and internationally with Uganda and Kenya. Walking animals
from Bahr el Ghazel through Yei to northern Uganda was a major trading route as was
the walking of Toposa animals to Narus before trucking through Lokichokio to Nairobi
for slaughter. Small numbers of animals would also be walked from the Sobat Basin into
Malakal and Ethiopia. Internally, an improved security situation in the Nile Sobat
Corridor has resulted in increased movement and rural-urban trade along the Leer-Bentiu
road and by river into Malakal. There is high potential for cattle rustling in the Ironstone
Plateau zone because of increasing cattle prices and increased sales into towns. In the
Western Flood Plains, there is inter-regional trade for surplus animals from Gogrial,
Tonj, Rumbek and Wau into communities in North Sudan.
The incidence of disease among South Sudanese cattle was high before the introduction
of community based animal health service by UNICEF-OLS in 1993. Rinderpest is now
under control although other epidemic diseases still affect South Sudan livestock. Nagana
is a common cattle disease in Western Equatoria while small ruminants die often from
liver flukes, mange and worms. Foot and mouth disease reduce production in adult cattle
and cause calf deaths; CBPP is endemic and ECF is emerging as an important disease in
Equatoria and Jongolei (Cately et al., 2005).
Challenges to production and measures for improvement
Due to lack of quantitative data the influence of quantity and quality of available herbage
on animal productivity will not be considered here. Neither will an analysis of production
factors or the effect of individual nutrients on productivity be undertaken. Only the
environmental effects of an extensive grazing system on range resources will be dealt
with instead in order to suggest those institutional measures that are conducive to
sustainability of the range.
Understanding the agropastoralist system
The agropastoralist system has evolved over time and is run by a complex cultural and
social organisation whose strategies and needs are little understood by those outside the
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system. The starting point, therefore, is to understand the variability and diversity that
exists in the agropastoralist areas in order to find sustainable solutions for management of
the system. In this regard, it is well to stress community participation in the planning and
implementation of common-property programmes and in ensuring adequate preparedness
and response in the face of calamities such as drought or flooding. In Namibia, Mufune
(2004) showed that a community owned and driven livestock project contributed to
poverty reduction in rural areas because the community felt empowered and made
decisions that benefited members.
Water resources and their management
Regular and adequate supply of water to livestock is essential for their existence and
sustenance of productive functions. Available evidence indicates that water availability is
a problem in the lowlands of Eastern Equatoria particularly in the dry season. In the flood
plains, seasonal movement to toich ensures adequate water supply for Mundari, Dinka
and Nuer herds and flocks. Be as it may, it is still desirable that a policy on development
of water points be looked into as experiences in Kenya (Abate et al., 1995) and Namibia
(Abate, 2004) have shown lowered animal outputs from the range when water supply
points are absent, few or far apart. Limited water resources always lead to high grazing
pressures around permanent water points resulting in deterioration of the range. It is,
therefore, important to consider the building of earth dams, construction of wells,
deepening of water catchment areas and sinking of boreholes to facilitate accessibility to
water. Such a strategy would ensure controlled grazing of feed resources, enable more
areas to be grazed, allow conservation of dry season grazing and reduce feed
requirements for trekking (Abate et al., 1995). To ensure continuity of their useful
existence and enhancement of their social acceptability, the management of the water
resources need to be vested in the communities.
Multiple species grazing
It is accepted that the best way of utilizing range resources efficiently is in keeping a
diverse herd of animals. This is presently the practice in the South Sudanese rangelands
and although the proportions of the different livestock species have not been quantified,
an appropriate balance need to be promoted thorough the extension service. Comparative
studies on feeding behaviour of ruminants and camels have shown them to be
complementary rather than competitive. Schwartz (1987), working in northern Kenya,
reported that mixed species herds increase food production, minimise risks in pastoral use
systems and are less detrimental to range condition and productivity than animal monocultures. Thus, with a multiple species grazing system, the South Sudanese range would
support more livestock numbers than is currently the case without damaging the
environment.
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High stock numbers lead to environmental degradation
The South Sudanese range environment can only be sustained if stocking rates are
matched to the carrying capacity of the rangelands. As has been shown elsewhere in subSaharan Africa (ILCA, 1986/87) areas with high livestock densities are always
overgrazed of palatable grasses and shrubs leaving behind less palatable species that
become prominent under drought and can barely meet the maintenance and reproduction
requirements of livestock. Thus, it is instructive for livestock keepers to consistently cull
and sell unproductive animals such as infertile females and old castrated males using the
well established system of livestock auctions in order to ensure that the range holds
manageable numbers of animals. The return to normalcy of major towns in South Sudan
could provide internal markets for livestock producers (Cately et al., 2005). And, as
indicated in earlier paragraphs, there are already livestock trade opportunities with
Uganda, Kenya, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and North Sudan, which need to
be formalised through investment in infrastructure, trade agreements and enabling
policies.
Improvements to the feed resource base
Because of erratic rainfalls, shortages of available pasture are frequent and a major
constraint to livestock production in the southern Sudanese lowlands. An afforestation
programme involving local people should therefore be considered. The planting of high
fodder yielding indigenous trees and shrubs can increase the dry matter output of the
range and improve the vegetation offtake from it by livestock. The agropastoralists in
collaboration with forest and range specialists need to identify promising plants for
inclusion in grazing areas. It is relevant here to report the work of Kassilly and Abate
(2002), which showed that Euphorbia spp. a planted genus, was the most preferred in the
diet selected by camels in the Baringo district of Kenya. In the long term, shrubs and
trees are a least cost alternative. Moreover, according to Kayongo-Male (1986), herbs,
dwarf shrubs, tree leaves and litter constitute the major portion of cattle diets in the dry
season. Leguminous trees are, particularly, useful because they add to soil fertility.
Rothauge et al. (2003) observed preference by cattle for grasses growing under
leguminous trees because of soil enrichment caused by the tree that eventually improved
the nutritive value of the sub-canopy grasses. Indeed forests and forest products, many of
which are used by the agropastoralist, should be considered in the decision making
processes relating to South Sudan resources management.
Grazing management
The range environment risks being destroyed unless grazing is managed efficiently. As
with the water points, the different livestock communities need to be entrusted with
managing this important resource. They would be required to define time and areas to be
grazed throughout the year, monitor range condition and agree on de-stocking through
sales. These measures should be additional to the traditional methods of deferred grazing
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and conservation. The success of a community management strategy would require
confidence building among the different communities so as to stamp out cattle raiding for
restocking purposes and inter-ethnic conflicts, which, currently are quite frequent, and
affect access to grazing areas. Government would then be required to compliment
community efforts by investing in resource mapping and early warning systems which
knowledge could be used in designing livestock movements for efficient and sustainable
utilization of the range. The Livestock Early Warning System (LEWS) is already being
used to monitor livestock and foliage conditions in Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia (FEWS,
2006)
Disease control
The disease environment is considered here in the context of increasing productivity from
the range so as to make investing in its sustainability worthwhile. Again the use of
indigenous knowledge to control disease is to be encouraged. Otherwise, strategic mass
vaccinations against common diseases and use of anthelmintics would greatly increase
survival rates. Benefits from vaccinations will be enormous viewed against the almost
daily reporting of rinderpest occurrence by community animal health workers in 1993
(see Cately et al., 2005). Indeed, persistent large scale use of rinderpest vaccine has made
cattle production profitable in many parts of sub-Saharan Africa. Routine vaccinations
and deworming should be coupled with periodical cost-effective herd health programmes
for early detection and treatment of disease.
Role of research
Problem solving and multisector research that encourages from-below analysis is to be
encouraged in order to sustain the range and make it more productive. Monitoring of
resource trends using suitable indicators is desirable to prevent land degradation.
Research into the agropastoral way of life will result in the evolution of institutions and
mechanisms that can assist with conflict resolution among communities. Continuous
research into markets, market access and product pricing will ensure that livestock in the
rangelands remain an economic asset.
References
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Abate, A., Wakhungu, J.W. and Said, A.N. (1995). Cattle, goats, sheep and camel
production on range: the Kenya experience. Bull. Anim. Hlth. Prod. Afr., 43:145-156
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