Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Nutrient use efficiency in peri-urban dairy cattle and sheep holdings in southern Mali

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Nutrient Cycling in Agroecosystems Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

To analyse nutrient use efficiencies in peri-urban cattle and sheep production of West Africa with their complex combination of free grazing and homestead feeding, data on demographic events, live weight changes and milk offtake as well as types and amounts of feedstuffs provided at the homestead and manure deposited there were collected over 18 months in 9 cattle (C) and 13 sheep (S) herds in Sikasso, the second largest city of Mali. Herds were either grazing only (go; cattle: 4, sheep: 5) or grazing and supplemented at the homestead (gs; cattle: 5, sheep: 8). Bi-monthly collected samples of supplement feeds and manure were analyzed for their nutrient contents. In cattle, herd growth was higher in Cgs than in Cgo (P < 0.05), while it was similar in the two sheep groups. Live weight gains of cattle and sheep were higher in the rainy than in the dry season (P < 0.05), but in both seasons Cgo performed better than Cgs (P < 0.05), due to periodic short-distance transhumance of the former. Similarly across groups, the quantity of dry manure deposited at the homestead per animal and night ranged from 550 to 880 g in cattle and 50 to 135 g in sheep. Only 15–58 % of the dry matter and nutrients provided through the supplement feeds were recovered in manure at the homestead. We conclude that the current ruminant production systems around Sikasso are still very extensive in nature and not taking sufficiently advantage of the rising market potential for animal products.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. TLU, Tropical Livestock Unit: standardized animal of 250 kg live weight; 1 cattle = 0.8 TLU, 1 sheep = 0.1 TLU.

References

  • Abdulkadir A, Dossa LH, Lompo DJ-P, Abdu N, van Keulen H (2012) Characterization of urban and peri-urban agroecosystems in three West African cities. Int J Agric Sustain 10:289–314

  • Amadou H, Dossa LH, Lompo JPD, Abdulkadir A, Schlecht E (2012) A comparison between urban livestock production strategies in Burkina Faso, Mali and Nigeria in West Africa. Trop Anim Health Prod 44(7):1631–1642

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ayantunde AA, Fernández-Rivera S, Hiernaux PH, van Keulen H, Udo HMJ (2002) Day and night grazing by cattle in the Sahel. J Range Manag 55:144–149

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ayantunde AA, de Leeuw J, Turner MD, Said M (2011) Challenges of assessing the sustainability of (agro)-pastoral systems. Livest Sci 139:30–43

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ba A, Lesnoff M, Poccard-Chapuis R, Moulin C-H (2011) Demographic dynamics and off-take of cattle herds in southern Mali. Trop Anim Health Prod 43(6):1101–1109

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bonfoh B, Zinsstag J, Farah Z, Simbe CF, Alfaroukh IO, Aebi R, Badertscher R, Collomb M, Meyer J, Rehberger B (2005) Raw milk composition of Malian Zebu cows (Bos indicus) raised under traditional system. J Food Compos Anal 18:29–38

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bosso NA, van der Waaij EH, Kahi AK, van Arendonk JAM (2009) Genetic analyses of N’Dama cattle breed selection schemes. Livest Res Rural Dev 21. http://www.lrrd.org/lrrd21/8/boss21135.htm

  • Buerkert A, Hiernaux P (1998) Nutrients in the West African Sudano-Sahelian zone: losses, transfers and role of external inputs. J Plant Nutr Soil Sci 161:365–383

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Camara OS (1996) Utilisation des résidus de récolte et du fumier dans le cercle de Koutiala: bilan des éléments nutritifs et analyse économique. Rapport du projet Production Soudano-Sahélienne PSS No. 18. Wageningen, The Netherlands

  • Close W, Menke KH (1986) Selected topics in animal nutrition. Deutsche Stiftung fur Internationale Entwicklung (DSE), Feldafing

    Google Scholar 

  • Cohen MJ, Garrett JL (2010) The food price crisis and urban food (in) security. Environ Urban 22:467–482

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Coulibaly M, Nialibouly O (1998) Effect of suckling regime on calf growth, milk production and offtake of Zebu cattle in Mali. Trop Anim Health Prod 30:179–189

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Coulibaly D, Moulin CH, Poccard-Chappuis R, Morin G, Sidibé SI, Corniaux C (2007) Evolution des stratégies d’alimentation des élevages bovins dans le basin d’approvisionnement en lait de la ville de Sikasso au Mali. Rev Elev Med Vet Pays Trop 60:103–111

    Google Scholar 

  • Debrah S, Sissoko K, Soumare S (1995) Etude économique de la production laitière dans la zone périurbaine de Bamako au Mali. Rev Elev Med Vet Pays Trop 48:101–109

    Google Scholar 

  • Decruyenaere V, Buldgen A, Stilmant D (2009) Factors affecting intake by grazing ruminants and related quantification methods: a review. Biotechnol Agron Soc Environ 13:559–573

    Google Scholar 

  • Diao MB, Dieng A, Seck MM, Ngomibé RC (2006) Pratiques alimentaires et productivité des femelles laitières en zone périurbaine de Dakar. Rev Elev Med Vet Pays Trop 59:43–49

    Google Scholar 

  • Diogo RCV, Buerkert A, Schlecht E (2010) Resource use efficiency in urban and peri-urban sheep, goat and cattle enterprises. Animal 4:1–14

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Diogo RVC, Schlecht E, Buerkert A, Rufino MC, van Wijk MT (2013) Increasing nutrient use efficiency through improved feeding and manure management in urban and peri-urban livestock units of a West African city: a scenario analysis. Agric Syst 114:64–72

  • Dodo K, Pandey VS, Illiassou MS (2001) Utilisation de la barymétrie pour l’estimation du poids chez le zébu Azawak au Niger. Rev Elev Med Vet Pays Trop 54:63–68

    Google Scholar 

  • Dossa LH, Abdulkadir A, Amadou H, Sangaré S, Schlecht E (2011) Exploring the diversity of urban and peri-urban agricultural systems in Sudano-Sahelian West Africa: an attempt towards a regional typology. Landsc Urban Plann 102:197–206

  • FAOSTAT (2014) FAO Statistical Databases. http://www.fao.org. Accessed on 30 Sept 2014

  • Fernández-Rivera S, Salla A, Hiernaux P, Williams TO (2003) Transhumance and dry-season supplementation for cattle in the Sahel. J Anim Sci 81(S1):15–16

    Google Scholar 

  • Fernández-Rivera S, Hiernaux P, Williams TO, Turner MD, Schlecht E, Salla A, Ayantunde AA, Sangaré M (2005) Nutritional constraints to grazing ruminants in the millet-cowpea-livestock farming system of the Sahel. In: Ayantunde AA, Fernández-Rivera S, McCrabb G (eds) Coping with feed scarcity in smallholder livestock systems in developing countries, pp 157–182. Animal Sciences Group, UR, Wageningen, The Netherlands, University of Reading, Reading, UK, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich, Switzerland and International Livestock Research Institute, Nairobi, Kenya

  • Geerts S, Osaer S, Goossens B, Faye D (2008) Trypanotolerance in small ruminants of sub-Saharan Africa. Trends Parasitol 25:132–138

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gericke S, Kurmies B (1952) Die kolorimetrische Phosphorsaeurebestimmung mit Ammonium-Vanadat-Molybdat und ihre Anwendung in der Pflanzenanalyse. Zeitschrift fuer Pflanzenernaehrung und Bodenkunde 59:235–247

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Graefe S, Schlecht E, Buerkert A (2008) Opportunities and challenges of urban and peri-urban agriculture in Niamey, Niger. Outlook Agric 37:47–56

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hamadou S, Marichatou H, Kamuanga M (2004) Croissance désordonnée des élevages périurbains et approvisionnement de la ville de Bobo de Bobo-Dioulasso: problématiques et hygiène. Etudes et Recherches Sahélienne 8–9:107–115

    Google Scholar 

  • Hamadou S, Tou Z, Toé P (2008) Le lait, produit de diversification en zone périurbaine à Bobo Dioulasso (Burkina Faso). Cah Agric 17:473–478

    Google Scholar 

  • Herrero M, Havlík P, Valin H, Notenbaert A, Rufino MC, Thornton PK, Bluemmel M, Weiss F, Grace D, Obersteiner M (2013) Biomass use, production, feed efficiencies, and greenhouse gas emissions from global livestock systems. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA (PNAS) 110(52):20888–20893

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Jeroch H, Drochner W, Simon O (2008) Ernährung landwirtschaftlicher Nutztiere. Ernährungsphysiologie, Futtermittelkunde, Fütterung. 2. überarbeitete Auflage. Verlag Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart, Germany

  • Kolff HE (1985) Livestock production in Central Mali: the mouton de case system of smallholder sheep fattening. Agric Syst 16:217–230

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lesnoff M (1999) Dynamics of a sheep population in a Sahelian area (Ndiagne district in Senegal): a periodic matrix model. Agric Syst 61:207–221

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lesnoff M, Lancelot R (2010) Assessment of age at first parturition by accounting censored data: the example of small ruminants in agropastoral herds in Senegal. Trop Anim Health Prod 42:1155–1159

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lompo DJ-P, Sangaré SAK, Compaoré E, Sedogo MP, Predotova M, Schlecht E, Buerkert A (2012) Gaseous emissions of nitrogen and carbon from urban vegetable gardens of Bobo Dioulasso, Burkina Faso. J Plant Nutr Soil Sci 175(6):846–853

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Mattoni M, Bergero D, Schiavone A (2007) Assessment of structural traits and management related to dairy herds in the peri-urban area of Bobo Dioulasso (South West of Burkina Faso). J Agric Rural Dev Trop Subtrop 108:41–50

    Google Scholar 

  • Menke KH, Huss W (1987) Tierernaehrung und Futtermittelkunde. Verlag Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart

    Google Scholar 

  • Menke KH, Steingass H (1987) Schaetzung des energetischen Futterwertes aus der in vitro mit Pansensaft bestimmten Gasbildung und der chemischen Analyse. II. Regressionsgleichungen. Uebersichten Tierernaehrung 15:59–94

    Google Scholar 

  • Menke KH, Raab L, Salewski A, Steingass H, Fritz D, Schneider W (1979) The estimation of the digestibility and metabolisable energy content of ruminant feedingstuffs from the gas production when they are incubated with rumen liquor. J Agric Sci 93:217–222

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Millogo V, Ouedraogo GA, Agenäs S, Svennersten-Sjaunja K (2008) Survey on dairy cattle milk production and milk quality problems in peri-urban areas in Burkina Faso. Afr J Agric Res 3(3):215–224

    Google Scholar 

  • Ministère de l’Habitat et de l’Urbanisme (2005) Schéma directeur d’urbanisme de la ville de Sikasso et environs. Direction Nationale de l’Urbanisme et de l’Habitat, Bamako, République du Mali

  • Nantoumé H, Diarra CHT, Traoré D (2009) Performance et rentabilité économique de la valorisation des fourrages pauvres par le tourteau de coton dans l’engraissement des moutons Maures au Mali. Livest Res Rural Dev 21(12). http://www.lrrd.org/lrrd21/12/nant21207.htm. Accessed on 29 April 2014

  • Naumann K, Bassler R, Seibold R, Barth K (2004) Die chemische Untersuchung von Futtermitteln. Loseblattausgabe mit Ergaenzungen 1983, 1988, 1993, 1997 and 2004. Methodenbuch, Band III. VDLUFA-Verlag, Darmstadt

  • Niaré T (1996) Performance de reproduction des ovins dans deux noyaux d’élevage traditionnel et cycle fourrager en zone Soudano-sahélienne au Mali. Agron Afr VIII:41–50

  • Osaer S, Goossens B, Kora S, Gaye M, Darboe L (1999) Health and productivity of traditionally managed Djallonke sheep and West African dwarf goats under high and moderate trypanosomosis risk. Vet Parasitol 82:101–119

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ouédraogo GA, Millogo V, Anago-Sidibé AG, Kanwé BA (2008) Relationship between somatic cell counts, dairy cattle milk yield and composition in Burkina Faso. Afr J Biochem Res 2(2):56–60

    Google Scholar 

  • PAM, CSA/SAP, UNICEF (2006) Mali—Analyse de la sécurité alimentaire et de la vulnérabilité (CFSVA), Données de décembre 2005. Programme Alimentaire Mondial, Commissariat à la Sécurité Alimentaire, Système d’Alerte Précoce, UNICEF; Commission Européenne

  • Paul S, Onduru D, Wouters B, Gachimbi L, Zake J, Ebanyat P, Ergano K, Abduke M, van Keulen H (2009) Cattle manure management in East Africa: review of manure quality and nutrient losses and scenarios for cattle and manure management. Wageningen UR Livestock Research, ISSN 1570-8616. Report 258. p 21

  • Powell JM, Li Y, Wu Z, Broderick GA, Holmes BJ (2008) Rapid assessment of feed and manure nutrient management on confinement dairy farms. Nutr Cycl Agroecosyst 82:107–115

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Predotova M, Schlecht E, Buerkert A (2010) Nitrogen and carbon losses from dung storage in urban gardens of Niamey, Niger. Nutr Cycl Agroecosyst 87:103–114

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Remppis S, Steingass H, Gruber L, Schenkel H (2011) Effects of energy intake on performance, mobilization and retention of body tissue, and metabolic parameters in dairy cows with special regard to effects of pre-partum nutrition on lactation—a review. Asian-Aust J Anim Sci 24(4):540–572

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Rufino MC, Tittonell P, van Wijk MT, Castellanos-Navarrete A, Delve RJ, de Ridder N, Giller KE (2007) Manure as a key resource within smallholder farming systems: analysing farm-scale nutrient cycling efficiencies with the NUANCES framework. Livest Sci 112:273–287

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sanogo O (2011) Le lait, de l’or blanc? Amélioration de la productivité des exploitations mixtes cultures-élevage à travers une meilleure gestion et alimentation des vaches laitières dans la zone de Koutiala. PhD thesis, Wageningen University, The Netherlands, p 158

  • Sangaré M, Bengaly Z, Marichatou H, Toguyeni A, Tamboura HH (2010) Influence d’une infection expérimentale à Trypanosoma congolense sur la fonction sexuelle des béliers Djallonké et Sahéliens en zone subhumide. Biotechnol Agron Soc Environ 14:409–416

  • Schlecht E, Sangaré M, Susenbeth A, Becker K (1999) Supplementation of zebu cattle grazing Sahelian pastures. II. Development of body mass and empty body composition. J Agric Sci (Cambridge) 133:83–95

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schmidt M, Thiombiano A, Zizka A, König K, Brunken U, Zizka G (2011) Patterns of plant functional traits in the biogeography of West African grasses (Poaceae). Afr J Ecol 49:490–500

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Siegmund-Schultze M, Rischkowsky B (2001) Relating characteristics to urban sheep keeping in West Africa. Agric Syst 67:139–152

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sokouri DP, Yapi-Gnaore CV, N’guetta ASP, Loukou NE, Kouao BJ, Toure G, Kouassi A, Sangaré A (2010) Performances de reproduction des races bovinés locales de Cote d’Ivoire. J Appl Biosci 36:2353–2359

  • SPSS Inc. (2010) PASW (Predictive Analytics Software) 18.0. SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA

  • SWAC-OECD, ECOWAS (2008) Livestock and regional markets in the Sahel and West Africa: potentials and challenges. Sahel and West Africa Club/OECD, Paris

    Google Scholar 

  • Tembely S, Bengaly K, Berckmoes W (1995) Effect of strategic anthelmintic treatments on growth performance and survival rate of indigenous lambs in sub-humid Mali. Small Rumin Res 16:77–82

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thys E, Oueadraogo M, Speybroeck N, Geerts S (2005) Socio-economic determinants of urban household livestock keeping in semi-arid Western Africa. J Arid Environ 63:475–496

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tittonell P, Rufino MC, Janssen BH, Giller KE (2009) Carbon and nutrient losses during manure storage under traditional and improved practices in smallholder crop-livestock systems—evidence from Kenya. Plant Soil 328:253–269

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Traoré A (2006) Première évaluation de la structure et de l’importance du secteur avicole commercial et familial en Afrique de l’Ouest. Organisation des Nations Unies pour l’Alimentation et l’Agriculture, Système de Production Avicole. Rapport du Mali, p 21

  • Turner MD (2000) Drought, domestic budgeting, and changing wealth distribution within Sahelian households. Dev Change 31:1009–1035

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Van Soest PJ (1994) Nutritional ecology of the ruminant, 2nd edn. Cornell University Press, Cornell

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilson RT, Durkin JW (1983) Livestock production in central Mali: weight at first conception and ages at first and second parturitions in traditionally managed goats and sheep. J Agric Sci 100:625–628

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wymann MN (2005) Calf mortality and parasitism in peri-urban livestock production in Mali. PhD thesis, University of Basel, Switzerland, p 167

Download references

Acknowledgments

We are grateful to the farmers in Sikasso for their time and willingness to participate in our study. We thank our colleagues Dr. L. H. Dossa and Mr. Y. Diarra for continued support with field work and data analysis, and Dr. A. Berthé from IER at Bamako/Mali for administrative support. We also thank the administrative and laboratory staff at ICRISAT Sahelian Center, Niamey, Niger, for their collaboration and the service of samples analysis; support in sample analysis by Mrs. E. Wiegard and Mrs. C. Thieme at Kassel University is appreciated as well. This study was funded by the Volkswagen Stiftung, Hannover, Germany, in the framework of the project “UrbanFood” (No. I/82 189) within the collaborative program “Resources, their dynamics, and sustainability”.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Animal Husbandry in the Tropics and Subtropics, Universität Kassel and Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, Steinstr. 19, 37213, Witzenhausen, Germany

    Hamadoun Amadou & Eva Schlecht

  2. Institut d’Economie Rurale, B.P. 262, Bamako, Mali

    Laban Konaté & Hamidou Nantoumé

  3. Organic Plant Production and Agroecosystems Research in the Tropics and Subtropics, Universität Kassel, Steinstr. 19, 37213, Witzenhausen, Germany

    Andreas Buerkert

Authors
  1. Hamadoun Amadou
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Laban Konaté
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Hamidou Nantoumé
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Andreas Buerkert
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Eva Schlecht
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Eva Schlecht.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Amadou, H., Konaté, L., Nantoumé, H. et al. Nutrient use efficiency in peri-urban dairy cattle and sheep holdings in southern Mali. Nutr Cycl Agroecosyst 102, 65–78 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10705-014-9666-1

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10705-014-9666-1

Keywords

Search

Navigation