S.H. Ahmed
Agricultural Research and Extension Agency, Yemen
Yemen has a population of 15.8 million, over 75% of whom live in rural areas, and a growth rate of 3.7. There are about 1.7 million hectares of cultivable land, with an average of 1.05 ha per farm.
Sorghum is the most important crop, occupying 43% of all cultivated land. Wheat and alfalfa are grown mainly in the highlands, where barley is also grown as a fodder crop to be harvested green during winter. Cereal crop production is important for livestock and the residues of legume crops are used as fodder.
In the lowland coastal area, cotton and sesame are important crops. Cotton is grazed after harvest and cottonseed cake is used as a concentrate feed. Napier grass is cultivated both as a cash crop and for the farmer’s own animals. The indigenous cattle described by Mason and Maule (1960) are a small, shorthorn zebu type, similar to African cattle.
In the highlands, over 75% of farmers keep a house cow to provide milk and ghee for the household. These cows are intensively hand-fed. Most sheep in Yemen are of the fat-tailed type, some with fleece and some, in the highlands, with hair. Goats are distributed mainly in the lowland coastal areas. Donkeys and camels are used as the draft animals for cultivation and transportation. Most households have between 5 and 10 local, or Baladi, chickens.
The main constraints are as follows:
Local varieties of forage are low yielding. There are shortages of seeds or cuttings for introduced forage varieties, which are, moreover, mainly suitable only for irrigated systems. High yields can be obtained, provided the necessary inputs of water, fertiliser and disease control are available, but in general they are not. Insufficient attention has been paid to rainfed forage production, and few forage varieties have been introduced that are suitable for the environment. As alfalfa has a high water requirement, it has not been generally adopted by farmers. Farmers seek to maximise dry matter production, leaving harvesting until after the time when nutritive value is optimal and harvested forages are stored in the open with a loss of nutritive value.
Production from rangeland is low. As a result of overgrazing, rangeland ground cover is low, with a high proportion of annuals and unpalatable plants. Improved forage species for the rangelands have not been widely adopted. Cutting of trees, shrubs and woody herbs for fuel has had an adverse effect on botanical composition, water infiltration rates and soil retention. Areas of rangeland with a higher potential for production have been converted into marginal cropping areas, because of the pressure from the increase in human population. The movement of sand dunes into crop and range areas is affecting production. Range rehabilitation has concentrated on the enforced exclusion of livestock, using fencing but without involving the local community. The high cost of range rehabilitation does not give a rapid return on investment and the techniques used are not easily adopted.
There is a shortage of forage, in both quantity and quality, partly as a result of the pressure on grazing areas for other uses. Supplementary concentrate feeds are either expensive or unavailable. Meat production is low because animals are slaughtered at low weight, either because of lack of feed or because of consumer preference. Widespread losses result from epidemic diseases, such as rinderpest and foot-and-mouth disease, and from liver fluke and clostridial disease. Mineral deficiencies are common in house cows in the highlands. There is a shortage of veterinary services and drugs and of information on their use. Farmers lack knowledge of the criteria for selecting breeding stock. Honey production is poor, because of the lack of knowledge of bees or of how to use pesticides to control pests and diseases without harming beneficial insects. The quality of feed for commercial poultry is poor and commercial dairy production is limited by unsuitable climate in the lowlands, insufficient or poor quality bulk concentrate feed, poor management skills and high mortality rates. There is a lack of female extension workers to contact women, who are generally responsible for livestock.
Animal health is the main problem. Drug costs are high, and their use is restricted to the most valuable animals in the last stages of infection. There is little information on which drugs to use and the drugs in the market have often passed their expiry date. Concentrates are costly or not available. Research has shown that the use of meat and bone meal as a supplement for dairy cows is effective, but the price of locally produced meal is very high.
Investment in agriculture has largely come from remittances from pay earned in the Gulf. Credit for livestock investment is not available from commercial sources as the majority of farmers are excluded because they do not own land.
Government policies affecting agriculture, such as on credit, have benefited the large-scale producer rather than the small-scale farmer. Legislation, such as on quarantine for imported animals, is often not effectively enforced.
Extension services are weak in providing information. All extension services suffer from a lack of operational funds and transport. Extension workers have little training that is relevant to their providing advice on livestock. There are few recommendations ready for extension staff to take to livestock farmers, as the results of research must be tested with farmers and suitable packages developed.
The private sector provides animal health services, but few farmers are satisfied with the service.
Marketing livestock products is in the hands of the private sector. Information on current market prices in different areas of the country would give farmers a stronger bargaining position with itinerant merchants at the village level. Export of live animals to Saudi Arabia is undocumented. Stratified production, with young animals produced on rangelands and fattened in feedlots, has not developed, because of the high price of young livestock. Public health is at risk, because there are few slaughter points where meat is inspected. Most milk is consumed in the household and the surplus is given away.
Traditionally, children and elderly people supplied labour for herding. The increase in the number of children attending school is reducing the amount of time they have available to herd.
Forage production, especially alfalfa, requires irrigation and leads to the depletion of underground water supplies and salinisation of the soil.
Rangelands, which are the largest source of animal feed in Yemen, including over half the feed for sheep and goats, are deteriorating as a result of overgrazing. The concentration of animals in some areas results in compaction of the soil surface and increased water run-off during storms, which reduces plant germination and growth.
Livestock make an important contribution, however, to maintaining soil fertility on cropland by harvesting and concentrating nutrients. Animal traction allows terraces that are too small or inaccessible for tractors to remain in production.
Habitat destruction and hunting have resulted in severe reduction in the number of mammals, and several species of birds are also threatened. Wildlife research could become a component of range and forestry research, with the examination of interactions between agriculture and wildlife.
Choosing where to place research resources depends on priorities. Work on livestock, range and forestry have been neglected in the past and there is a lack of information about the livestock sector. On-farm diagnostic studies have been undertaken by the extension and training branch of the Agricultural Research and Extension Agency (AREA) in the northern and central highlands, Tihama and Hadramout, which have revealed a number of broad areas where research work is needed. These diagnostic studies, together with participatory rural appraisal, are being used to identify the farmers’ main problems. Evaluation is an essential part of the research process for both on-station and on-farm work, to determine biological and economic suitability, as well as social factors. Research priorities include the following:
Research must move beyond screening varieties to include studies of feed availability throughout the year. Dry matter shortages are important, but the periods when specific nutrients in forage limit animal production also need identifying. Researchers need to consider harvesting, conserving and storing cultivated forages, and improving irrigation efficiency.
There has been limited improvement of range under the management of livestock owners. Range studies should be carried out by multidisciplinary teams of soil, plant and animal scientists, sociologists and economists, in collaboration with local communities, and priority given to pilot studies of range with and without the introduction of new species. More work is required on traditional methods for the protection of rangelands and on recently introduced community controls.
Research and extension work on agroforestry, on soil, plant and animal interactions, and on tree products must satisfy farmers’ needs if they are to be accepted. Multipurpose trees for forage could be encouraged to supplement rations for fattening of sheep or for lactating cows. Trees may also have a role to play in stabilising neglected terraces that are unsuitable for qat. Caution is needed in using qat for intercropping, become of the high levels of pesticides used and possible residues. Trees are also important in stabilising sand dunes and for use as windbreaks and fuel.
Research is needed, using veterinary staff from the Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources and AREA staff, to identify the animal diseases that are of significant economic importance on farms. The main focus of livestock research will be on indigenous breeds of sheep and goats. Both farmers and the extension services need criteria for selecting breeding stock. Work on nutrition will focus on animals being fattened and on lactating animals, as they are the most responsive to improved nutrient supply. Studies are needed on methods for improving nutrition and the economic returns for these improvements.
Cattle are important in some areas and some resources must be devoted to cattle research. Increasing milk production will directly benefit the nutritional status of households. Market forces will be the key factor in determining whether there is demand for local dairy products in urban centres, which will justify stimulating local production. Improvements in animal traction also need to be considered.
Studies are required on crop–livestock interactions to enhance the sustainability of agricultural production systems in Yemen. At present, very little organic matter is returned to the soil, as crops are often uprooted and the straw is fed to animals or used for fuel. These studies, to be carried out on research stations, will examine both irrigated and rainfed production systems.
In the past, AREA research concentrated on irrigation systems and their effect on livestock production. More attention should be paid to animals in rainfed farming systems and rangelands, in studies outside the research stations. A primary objective will be to ensure the sustainability of production systems in the different agro-ecological zones in Yemen, with individual stations given responsibility for different zones. Work needs to concentrate on problems where adoption will have immediate impact, by testing techniques developed elsewhere.
There is a shortage of livestock scientists in Yemen, and they are spread thinly across the research stations, with many having insufficient training to be productive in isolation. Human and financial resources need to be concentrated to form effective groups of researchers on livestock production.
Mason I.L. and Maule J.P. 1960. The Indigenous Livestock of Eastern and Southern Africa. Technical Communication, Commonwealth Bureau of Animal Breeding and Genetics No. 14. Commonwealth Agricultural Bureau, London, UK.
