Socio-demographic and technical characteristics of ruminant farming systems and analysis of production constraints in Côte d'Ivoire

Abstract

This study describes the socio-demographic and technological characteristics of livestock production systems as well as the challenges that ruminant farmers face in the northern, central and southern regions of Côte d'Ivoire. It was conducted between August and December 2020 using interviews with farmers. A total of 367 farmers were interviewed, 155 in the north, 112 in the centre and 100 in the south. The results showed that married (90.7 %) adult men (98.9 %) are mostly responsible for ruminant farming. They have an average of ten 10 dependents, and their primary activities include livestock, farming or trading. In all three zones, the difficulties encountered by livestock farmers are numerous and of various kinds. The deterioration of natural grazing habitats, the lack of grazing and the introduction of crops near grazing areas are obstacles to feed supply. External parasites and the tenacious of certain diseases, as well as conflicts between farmers and herders, are also obstacles to the growth of cattle farming in the assessed area. Among major demands of farmers in the visited areas were to decrease the cost of agro-industrial by-products, to improve natural grazing spaces and get easy access to veterinary products.

Keywords: conflicts, herders, constraints, Gbêkê, Poro, Tchologo