Smallholder Cattle Development Project

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The Small-holder Cattle Development Project aims at improving cattle productivity, through an increased efficiency of converted low-value crop residues, into high-value beef, and beef products. It will further promote marketing linkages on cattle profitability, integrating markets, producers, and processors into a demand-oriented marketing system. The project components will: 1) improve cattle breed, suitable for commercial production, while preserving indigenous breeds. It will strengthen the efforts of provincial governments in cattle breed improvement, upgrading beef bull stations, and where necessary, will import bulls for cross-breeding. Artificial insemination will be complemented with new frozen-straw technology, to improve the genetic system. Cattle vitamin-mineral molasses blocks will be produced, through a pilot plant; 2) increase cattle production, as a result of the cattle breed and feed improvements, and, adequate veterinary services, and animal husbandry practices. With forage enhancement technologies available, sub-components will include household cow-calf raising and cattle fattening, and small-scale commercial feedlots; 3) support cattle and beef market development, as well as upgrade slaughtering/processing facilities, for quality assurance participation; 4) assist the government, by strengthening institutional capacity for better international compatibility practices.