How can seasonal livestock mobility be taken into account when estimating the livestock load in a southern Sahelian territory?

Abstract

Background: In the Sahel, livestock statistics for an administrative territory are imprecise because they are based on sample censuses, which are often old and updated by growth coefficients applied on a national scale. Aim: The aim of our study was to quantify the livestock present during an annual cycle on the Dantchandou territory in Niger in order to estimate forage requirements, impacts on available resources, organic matter flows and enteric methane emissions. Methods: The communal livestock population was counted over one year by species, sex and age class. The livestock of 1,556 families of sedentary agro-pastoralists were systematically counted at 40 water points. An exhaustive survey, carried out in 6 of the commune’s 40 villages, counted the livestock of 1,515 farming families with a few head of livestock. The numbers were extrapolated to the 3,983 farming families in the 34 other villages. The herds of 45 foreign pastoralists staying temporarily in the commune were exhaustively counted. Seasonal flows out of the commune of part of the agro-pastoralists’ herds were quantified to establish monthly stocks on the commune. Results: The territory’s livestock population comprises 22,028 cattle, 19,597 goats and 22,374 sheep, plus those of foreign pastoralists. Seasonal liveweight measurements were used to express this load in tropical livestock units, i.e. 0.38, 0.28 and 0.23 TLU/ha in the wet, cool and dry/hot seasons respectively. Metabolic weights were used to estimate forage requirements: 231, 172 and 139 kg DM/ha in the wet, cool and dry/hot seasons respectively. Conclusions: estimates of seasonal fodder requirements will be compared with those of fodder intake based on analysis of fecal samples taken in different seasons.