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Livestock: Livestock
production is one of the major agricultural activities in Tanzania.
The sub sector contributes to national food supply, converts
rangelands resources into products suitable for human consumption and is
a source of cash incomes and an inflation – free store of value.
It provides about 30 per cent of the Agricultural GDP.
Out of the subsector’s contribution to GDP, about 40 percent
originates from beef production, 30 percent from Milk production and
another 30 percent from poultry and small stock production. Livestock
production originates from a large resource base composed of the
different livestock species, breeds and types whose ownership and
distribution differ from region to region.
Three livestock production systems are commonly distinguished in
the rangeland areas; commercial ranching, pastoralism and agro-pastoralism. Commercial
ranching accounts for about 2 percent of the total cattle herd.
It is practised mainly by National Ranching Company (NARCO), now
in the process of being privatised.
National Ranching company is state owned established in the
1970s with the support from IDA/world Bank and NARCO is responsible for
managing all ranches in the country. The company operates a total of 15 ranches with a land
holding of 623,000 ha and stock holding capacity of 155,300 head.
Private Commercial ranching exists in different regions of the
country with small stock numbers. Pastoralism
is concentrated in the northern plains and is practised in traditional
grazing areas where climatic and soil conditions do not favour crop
production. The main roles
of livestock in this system are subsistence, store of wealth and source
of cash incomes. Agro-pastoralism, comprising a range of combination of crop cultivation with livestock keeping is thriving, as livestock sector number have continued to increase at a rate of more than 2 per cent per annum. The government is adopting a strategy for range development by formal recognition of associations and organizations of livestock keepers through active collaboration between the government and the pastoral organisations. Action is taken to ensure that livestock keepers obtain formal legal recognition of traditional grazing rights as envisaged in the new Land Act. The livestock numbers have been increasing steadily (ranking
third in Africa) in recent decades at roughly the same rate as the human
population growth. Out of
3.7 million households in the country, 3 percent are pastoralists and 7
percent are agro-pastoralists. The
livestock sub-sector generates over one-quarter of agricultural GDP.
Cattle are dominant species, they account for about 75 percent of total livestock production, there are
sheep and goats, poultry, and the pigs. Approximately
99 percent of livestock sub-sector belongs to traditional (small)
owners, with big ranches and dairy farms constituting the remaining 1
percent. Most of
the livestock products are for domestic market.
Important exports are live animals, hides and skins.
This sub-sector needs to be developed particularly in the dairy
farming and its products, meat processing to meet the domestic demand
and for export market opportunities. While
encouraging private investment, the Government is to concentrate on core services to support the development of this
subsector. The
animals are a source of manure, hides and skins.
They are also potential source of draught power (800,000) for
cultivation and transport. Livestock
provide alternative savings to banks with reasonable protection from
inflation small ruminant industry play a crucial role. Carrying capacity of
the rangeland is estimated at 20 million animal units but currently
there are only 16 million animal units.
There is ample potential for expansion of the livestock industry
through better animal husbandry and addition of livestock. Investment Potentials: Tanzania
has vast tracts of land with conditions suitable for commercial
ranching. There
are 13 ranches awaiting divestiture 10 ranches are to be sold through
out right sale of assets to strategic investors.
These are: Kongwa Ranch - Dodoma
Region Kalambo Ranch -
Rukwa Region
(Area
64,560 hectares) Kitengule Ranch - Kagera Region (Stocking rate 6.7 acres per annum) Mzeri Ranch -
Tanga
Region
(Area:
41,296 hectares) West Kilimanjaro Ranch Mkata Ranch -
Morogoro
Region Misenyi Ranch -
Kagera
Region
(Area:
40,857 hectares) Dakawa Ranch - Morogoro Manyara Ranch - Arusha Region (Area: 17,951 hectares) Uvinza Ranch - Kigoma
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