Poultry farming can assist livestock farmers survive climate change

In the last article on climate change, we focused on cattle and climate change. Now we will consider how the raising of different types of poultry and game animals might assist livestock farmers to better survive and overcome the negative effects of climate change in Botswana.

In recent years, Botswana has become largely selfsufficient in chicken meat and eggs.

This, indeed, has been one of the success stories of agriculture since Independence. And chickens have some advantages over cattle, sheep and goats when it comes to overcoming the effects of climate change. This is because they are kept inside where the birds are shaded from the strong Botswana sun and where it is cooler. And on cold winter nights, heaters can be placed inside to keep the birds warm, especially when they are very young. There may also be great potential in raising guinea fowls here. Although most commercial poultry farmers in Botswana raise exotic chicken breeds, guinea fowls are indigenous here and so are well adapted to our harsh environment. And guinea fowl meat is drier and leaner, and has more protein and less fat than chicken meat. Their eggs are also substantially richer than those of chickens.

Now that is food for thought! Ostrich farming is also another activity that is very suitable for Botswana. They are indigenous here and so are well adapted to our harsh semi- arid climate. Today they occur in the wild over the Kgalagadi region of western Botswana – a more open grassy environment that favours the birds. Suitable breeds for Botswana include South African Black and Kalahari Blue.

And unlike layer chickens, after the age of nine weeks ostriches may be kept outside in paddocks where they can feed, not only on artificial feeds, but also on natural grasses. Also, ostrich products are diverse and include meat ( which is tasty, tender, and low in fat and cholesterol), bones, feet, skin that may be used to make leather products like handbags, and feathers that are used as decoration and feather dusters. And being the largest birds in the world, they produce megasized eggs that may be used to make tasty omelettes – one ostrich egg is equivalent of some twenty chicken eggs and enough to feed a football team! Eggshells may also be used as water containers and they may also be broken up into very small pieces and used to make necklaces and bracelets. To encourage farmers to venture into ostrich farming, some years ago government set up an ostrich abattoir near the Sir Seretse Khama International Airport outside Gaborone.

Today, it is a multispecies abattoir and can slaughter adult ostriches for farmers. Government has also set up the Ostrich Multiplication Unit at Dibete.

Here ostriches are bred and there is an ostrich hatchery where the eggs are hatched. Farmers can place orders for birds from here, and to encourage farmers to do this the prices for chicks are subsidised by government. For example, farmers may buy onemonth old chicks for P150. But despite government assistance for ostrich farmers, there are still very few farmers who raise ostriches in Botswana. One reason for this is the small market that exists in the country for ostrich meat.

This may be because Batswana do not have a liking for the meat and would prefer chicken meat instead. However, there is a market for ostrich meat in South Africa but this would entail the need for farmers to arrange long distance transport of the birds which might be costly. So, perhaps it is now time to kindle an interest in ostrich farming given the negative effects of climate change here. And the birds also do less damage to the environment and so may be used to help solve the chronic problem of overgrazing. Another option for local farmers here is game farming or game ranching. Game farming is whereby game animals are kept in a confined area and are supplied with supplementary feeds and water. On the other hand, game ranching is a system of wildlife management in which game animals use the environment as if they are living in the wild; on some ranches, they may mix freely with livestock. In the Tuli Block in eastern Botswana, the land is divided up into many commercial farms. Originally, most farmers reared cattle on these farms but many have now introduced game animals. This part of Botswana is semi- arid with an average rainfall of just 350- 400mm and so many of the farmers realized that indigenous game animals might be more suitable for the harsh conditions than some of the cattle breeds that they were raising. Suitable game animals here include impala and kudu.

In the Kgalagadi, suitable game animals include gemsbok, eland, springbok and ostrich. And in the Chobe area, buffalo, roan antelope and elephant are good choices. Game farmers will also benefit from the construction of a multispecies abattoir at Tsabong. Game animals have some advantages over cattle. Firstly, their meat is lower in fat and cholesterol – that’s good news for those who have high blood pressure or heart disease! Also, tourists from overseas may go on photographic safaris on game ranches or hunt the animals. However, this will depend on the annual quota of animals that can be hunted which is allocated to the ranch by the Department of Wildlife and National Parks. But setting up a game farm or ranch is costly. For example, a strong game fence must be constructed around the perimeter and this must be at least two metres high since, unlike cattle, some game animals, like kudus, can easily clear two metres! Increase in temperatures may lead to the spread of pests, parasites and diseases. This will mean that pests and diseases will now occur in areas where they were never known before. Therefore, farmers will have to treat such problems more often.

Although prolonged droughts, a result of climate change, may lead to reduced tick numbers, young animals may now not become resistant to tick borne diseases through early exposure to them. Without such exposure, such animals may now be attacked by diseases, such as redwater and heartwater, more readily when the tick population increases again during periods of higher rainfall.

However, researchers claim that the improved Tswana breed requires deworming and dipping against ticks to be carried out less often.