Studies of the management of grazing resources on the Makatini Flats and Pongolo River Floodplain.
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Date
1988
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Abstract
Subsequent to the impounding of the Pongolo river in the 1970's, development
of irrigated agriculture on the Makatini flats has been reducing the area of
vegetation available for grazing, and flooding patterns on the seasonally
inundated Pongolo River Floodplain have been determined by the controlled
release of water from the Pongolapoort dam. About 50 000 people live along
the 10 000 ha floodplain within the 63 000 ha northern region of the flats
which was studied. This population includes 2 970 registered cattle owners who
own a total of 19 300 cattle.
The objectives of this study were: to gain an understanding of the Makatini
pastoral system which would facilitate prediction of the effects of potential
developments, including agricultural expansion, modification of floodplain
hydrology and changed cattle management practices on the utility value of
cattle; and to provide guidelines for the management of pastoral resources on
the Makatini and other traditional African pastoral systems.
It was established that the value of cattle cannot be determined without
understanding the importance of the subsistence utilities provided and that
the value of utilities relative to each other influences the way in which the
system is stocked and managed by the local people. The value of all marketed
and non-marketed utilities was determined and the implications of the economic
evaluation for the identification of management options in African pastoral
systems assessed. Despite the "low productivity" of the Makatini system
compared to western style ranches, cattle owners receive annual returns worth
approximately 100 % of the asset value of their stock. This explains low
market offtake rate in this and other subsistence systems. Non-marketed
utilities, particularly milk production provide most of the returns to cattle
owners.
The mean stocking density on the floodplain vegetation was estimated to be
three times that of dry-land areas, but only 23 % of all grazing time is spent
on the floodplain. Although floodplain forage provides an important
supplement to winter grazing, its use is not vital to maintenance of animal
condition. The coincident occurrence of an annual "stress period"; greater
acceptability of Echinochloa pyramidalis vegetation as forage; the absence of
floods; and the reduced use of floodplain fields, results in increased
floodplain use in winter to a stocking density approximately ten times that of
dry-land areas.
How the floodplain hydrology, rainfall and grazing interact with the crop
growth rate and quality of E. pyramidalis stands was examined. The forage
production potential of E. pyramidalis was found to be higher than that of
other floodplain vegetation types and stocking densities of up to 4.5 AU/ha in
summer and 2.5 AU/ha in winter are considered possible on the Pongolo
floodplain. Echinochloa pastures may become wet and cause scouring if grazed
exclusively, but grazing reduces plant moisture content and makes the forage
more acceptable.
Local pastoral management was found to depend on the collective activities of
cattle owners in pursuit of personal needs in a dynamic socio-economic
context. Motivation for the manipulation of cattle numbers and herd
composition is dictated by a cattle owner's perception of his needs for
utilities and his ability to access those benefits. Because of this, the
pastoral practices were found to be closely linked to other socio-economic
activities such as agriculture and migrant labour. stock owners have a narrow
perspective of pastoral resource management and use strategies developed on
small spatial and temporal scales.
In contrast development planners tend to identify objectives on a regional
scale and on long-term (10 - 50 year) time scales and to orient management
towards maximising the value of marketable utilities and preventing long-term
overstocking. Management of pastoral resources in traditional African systems
requires that the needs of local people be met, that the resource base be
maintained; that pastoral policy be developed as a component of regional
development planning and that close liaison between interest groups be
maintained. Failure to establish or maintain this liaison is considered the
main reason for the failure of many African pastoral development programmes.
It was recommended that local pasture management committees be established on
the Makatini and that extension officers, trained specifically to understand
management problems of Third World pastoral systems, be used to maintain
liaison between stock owners and development planners. It was also suggested
that formal cattle camps be established and managed by local people and that
at least one flood (river flow> 200 cumecs) be released from the Pongolapoort
darn each summer.
Description
Thesis (M.Sc.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 1988.
Keywords
Range management--Natal--Pongolo River Floodplain., Cattle--Natal--Pongolo River Floodplain., Pastoralism--Natal--Pongolo River Floodplain., Theses--Grassland science.