Passive cooling strategies for cattle housing on small farms: A case study

Small-scale beef cattle farmers in tropical zones face climate variability, especially during the hot summer months. As the temperature rises, beef cattle are exposed to heat stress, resulting in lower beef quality and production yields and higher costs of livestock farming. With many restrictions on the part of smallholders raising beef cattle, one way to reduce this impact on small farms is to design cattle housing that helps protect against direct and indirect solar heat and removes the heat from the house effectively. This study has used the concept of passive cooling design to improve the beef cattle houses of smallholders. The farmers' existing limitations, both in capital and construction capacity, are taken into account. Housing size, roof shape and roofing materials were modified to give adequate protection against heat and increase cross and stack ventilation. In addition, the positions of the buildings around the cattle house were rearranged to allow more draught into the house. After renovation, the indoor temperature was observed to be up to 5 degrees C lower than the outside temperature, and the humidity was reduced by 60-72%.