Monitoring production, health and marketing of indigenous Tswana pigs in Ramotswa village of Botswana

S J Nsoso, G G Mannathoko and K Modise

Department of Animal Science and Production
Botswana College of Agriculture, Private Bag 0027, Gaborone. Botswana
SNSOSO@BCA.BW

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to monitor the production, health and marketing of indigenous Tswana pigs in Ramotswa village of Botswana over a 12-month period. Farmers who rear indigenous Tswana pigs were identified by conducting a random survey throughout the village. These farmers were then interviewed using a formal questionnaire. Information was collected on demographic parameters, management system, herd composition, reproduction parameters, shelter, marketing, monthly stock movements and incidences of external and internal parasites from December 2004 to December 2005 except during April and May 2005. The data was analysed using Frequency and General Linear Model Procedures in Statistical Analysis System.

Eight (8) farmers were identified, who kept a total of 67 pigs comprised of 38.8, 22.4, 19.4, 17.9 and 1.5% piglets, gilts, sows, castrates and boars, respectively. It was found that elderly females (75%) in male-headed households (62.5%) with either primary or no education (75%) farmed pigs in Ramotswa village. All the pigs used in the study were managed extensively. The majority of the farmers (75%) did not control the reproduction of their stock but the pigs were able to farrow and raise their piglets with very little assistance. All farmers did not keep any form of records. The pigs were mostly scavengers supplemented with mainly brewers grains. They were provided with shelter made from locally available materials to protect them from inclement weather and predators. Half of the farmers (50%) did not clean the shelters, but those that did clean did so by removing manure with shovels without sanitation. The pigs were mainly marketed for their meat to the local community and Chinese expatriates. During the study, 68 animals were slaughtered, while 70 births were recorded, 9 pigs were either killed by cars or stray dogs and 2 were given away as gifts. External parasites identified were Rhipicephalas evertsi evertsi and Amblyomma hebraeum ticks and Haematopinus suis lice and Ascaris suum and Trichuris suis internal parasites. Generally, the level of infestation of both external and internal parasites did not differ significantly (p > 0.05) between farms and months throughout the study period. There were no incidences of diseases reported throughout the study period.

Farmers should be encouraged to improve management, husbandry practices and productivity of Tswana pigs. More research should be done to improve the overall productivity of indigenous Tswana pigs in order to conserve them through utilisation.

Keywords: Botswana, health, marketing, pigs, production

Introduction

There is very little reliable information on indigenous Tswana pigs (Podisi 2001) as compared to other indigenous domestic animals such as beef cattle, sheep and goats in Botswana. The latest Annual Agricultural Survey Report of 1999 (Botswana Government 2003) show that the population of pigs was 4 000, which is far less than over 10 000 in the 1980-1990s. This figure does not mention the number of indigenous pigs within that population. Most of the indigenous Tswana pig population is found in the southeast district of Botswana at a village called Ramotswa. These pigs are raised under traditional management system, characterised by low inputs coupled with poor management (Nsoso et al 2004a). The animals are primarily scavengers, utilising food scraps thrown away by people around homesteads. However, there are some farmers who buy pig feeds, which are based on bran and provide them with tap water (Nsoso et al 2004a). Pigs raised under this system are susceptible to parasites and diseases and they are also carriers of diseases such as hog cholera (Eusebio 1988). Similar to all indigenous animals in Botswana, Tswana pigs are an adapted genetic resource that can be used for food security, income generation and poverty alleviation (Nsoso et al 2004b) by resource poor farmers. The objective of this study was to monitor the production, health and marketing of indigenous Tswana pigs in Ramotswa over a 12-month period.
 

Materials and methods

Data collection

The study was conducted in Ramotswa village of Botswana. The farmers that participated in this study were strictly those that only reared indigenous Tswana pigs. They were identified by conducting a random survey throughout the village. The farmers were then interviewed using a formal questionnaire. Information was collected on:

• Demographic parameters for each farmer: gender, gender of head of household, marital status, age, level of education, occupation, main source of income and other livestock kept
• Management system of pigs including type of feed provided, source of feed, frequency of feeding, person(s) responsible for feeding, source of water.
• Herd composition: number of boars, sows, castrates, gilts and piglets
• Reproduction parameters of pigs: mating system used, mating season, birth frequency, litter size, age at weaning
• Pig shelter: type of shelter provided, frequency of cleaning and standard of hygiene maintained
• Pig marketing, buyers of pigs, products, records kept, prices, age at sale

From each farm the following pig data was also collected monthly from December 2004 to December 2005 except during April and May 2005 on:

• Number of births
• Number of deaths,
• Number of pigs slaughtered, sold, lost, bartered and/or given away
• Incidences of diseases in the herd during the first 6 months only
• Ticks, lice and faecal samples during the first 6 months only

Faecal collection and analysis

The fresh faecal samples were collected from the ground and placed in a clean sampling bottle for each farm. In the laboratory, standard methods were used to prepare individual samples, eggs of internal parasites and oocysts were counted using the modified McMaster method.

Data analysis

The data except on faecal oocysts/egg counts was analysed using the Procedure Frequency in Statistical Analysis System (SAS 1999-2000). The data on faecal oocysts/worm egg counts (fec) were transformed to log (fec +1) because the original data were not normal, then analysed using the General linear Model (GLM) in Statistical Analysis System (SAS 1999-2000) and the reported least squares means separated using t-test.

Results and discussion

A total of 8 farmers were identified, comprised of mostly married females (75%) in male-headed households (62.5%) aged over 41 years of age with either primary or no formal education (75%). Most of these farmers were unemployed depending on the sale of traditional beer, odd jobs and keeping poultry (Table 1).

This is consistent with the surveys of Nsoso et al (2004a) for pigs and Nsoso and Rabasima (2004) for beef cattle where the majority of the farmers were males (76-87%). This contrasts with surveys of Nsoso et al (2004c) where there was nearly equal participation in farming sheep and goats by males (52%) and females (48%) and Nsoso et al (2005) where there were more female (84%)indigenous chicken farmers than males (16%). These findings could be attributed to the fact that pigs are larger in size hence not easy to raise in terms of day to day management compared to smaller animals such as chickens, sheep and goats, therefore, fewer women are keeping them. More research should be conducted to elucidate this issue because of its importance to improve welfare of rural communities and reduce poverty in rural areas. Only 25% of secondary school leavers participated in pig farming (Table 1). These findings are consistent with those of Nsoso and Rabasima (2004) and Nsoso et al (2004a and b and 2005), where similar phenomena are reported. In agreement with these studies, young people i.e. those less than 40 years of age and secondary school leavers should be attracted into farming because the former are potential future farmers and the latter has education and skills, both attributes are required to increase agricultural production, improve community welfare and reduce poverty in the country.

All the farmers (100%) managed their pigs extensively (Table 2).

Pigs were fed mostly with brewers grains from the local brewing industry and domestic kitchen waste in addition to scavenging. This is consistent with the surveys of Nsoso et al (2004a) for pigs where a similar phenomenon is reported. Despite the high fibre content (15 %), low protein and great variety, brewing by-products are widely used in small-scale pig production systems, especially in Africa (Holness 1999). The majority of the farmers (87.5%) provided feed twice a day, with very little assistance from other members of the family. Some even employed caretakers, which is a clear indication that there is very little or no interest in pig rearing by younger people. Pigs were provided with clean tap water, with some having to fend for themselves (Table 2). This is also consistent with the findings of Nsoso et al (2004a) for pigs where a similar phenomenon is reported and points to the fact that farming with indigenous pigs is subsistence and also a hobby in some cases.

The majority of the farmers (75%) did not control mating of the pigs since they were extensively farmed (Table 3).

This is typical of traditional farming in Botswana where animals mix freely and any entire male animal may mate any female animal on heat, since the grazing areas are not fenced (Nsoso and Morake 1999). This resulted in piglets being born through out the year and all the pigs farrowing once or twice a year. According to farmers, the most common litter size was 5 to 8 piglets per sow farrowing (Table 3). According to Holness (1999), productivity of the unimproved breeds in Africa is influenced by their environment, which in this case is the traditional management system in place. Most of the farmers claimed that the piglets were weaned by the age of 4 months (Table 3). However, this was very difficult to confirm, as the pigs were not easy to observe because they were not confined and thus the farmers only speculated.

Most of the farmers (62.5%) provided some form of shelter, with only 12.5% not providing any. The shelters were either built from concrete or a combination of wood and corrugated iron sheets (Table 4).

Most of the farmers reported that they provided shelter during the night for the pigs to escape low night temperatures and attacks from dogs. Fifty percent of the respondents did not clean the shelters. The other 50% that did clean, mostly cleaned after rains and not as regularly as they should to maintain reasonable standards of hygiene (Table 4). The most common way of cleaning was the use of shovels to remove manure, without any disinfection to kill off disease causing pathogens and parasites. According to Kassai (1999), the most relevant general measure is careful mechanical cleaning: removal of faecal materials and bedding contaminated with parasite eggs, hosing of the floors and walls of feeding-troughs.

Most of the farmers (62.5%) marketed their pigs at puberty (Table 5).