Feed resources used for small ruminant nutrition in Sub-Saharan Africa: a case study of Uganda

Small ruminants are of great importance to the livelihoods of many people in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) since they act as a source of meat, income, hides and skins and for cultural identity. Despite their great importance, especially to rural smallholder farmers, their production in Africa is hindered by poor nutrition. The first stage of establishing development strategies to increase feed quality and quantity is to conduct a comprehensive inventory of the feed resources that are currently available, especially in SSA. Therefore, this study aims to evaluate the availability and nature of the common feed resources that are used in the feeding of small ruminants in Uganda. This study involved a comprehensive review of various scientific, technical and economic literature that has been published up to date. Our results show that the available feed resources in Uganda can be grouped mainly into:- crop wastes and residues, agro-industrial by-products, conserved feeds, natural pastures and browse. The main feed resources for small ruminants in Uganda have been identified as natural pastures, which are generally characterised by a low nutritive value. However, browses are seen to have a high crude protein content and could be used as a supplement to grass forages and crop residues. It has been noted that farmers lack knowledge related to feed processing and management, in addition to a lack of policy governing feed quality. Therefore, there is a need to train farmers on how to process and utilise crop residues, in addition to proper feed management practices like pasture cultivation and conservation. It is also necessary to introduce widely new pasture species with better nutritional values that are suitable for the local production systems.