Monetary value , current roles , marketing options , and farmer concerns of communal Nguni cattle in the Eastern Cape Province , South Africa

The study determined differences between village-owned and group-owned cattle enterprises on monetary value, Nguni cattle functions, marketing options, perceptions and concerns of Nguni cattle farmers. Questionnaires were administered to 22 village-owned and 19 group-owned enterprises. The χ 2 -tests were computed to determine associations between enterprise type, farmer characteristics, functions of cattle, marketing options, farmer perceptions and concerns on the cattle. Effects of enterprise ownership and farmer characteristics on the perceived monetary value of Nguni cattle were determined using ANOVA. Nguni cattle in both enterprise ownership patterns were used for cash, meat and upgrading the communal cattle. Farmers from village-owned enterprises had higher perceived prices than group-owned enterprises. Younger farmers with a formal training in agriculture perceived higher prices of bullocks and in-calf heifers. Most farmers (67%) perceived Nguni cattle low-input production as profitable with higher perceived prices for cattle in village-owned than group-owned enterprises. Community gatherings were the most common method of marketing Nguni cattle. The major concerns in village-owned enterprises were uncontrolled mating, lack of grazing land and husbandry equipment. It was concluded that while village-owned and group-owned enterprises had similar demographic profiles, cattle functions, and marketing options.


INTRODUCTION
Cattle production in South Africa is broadly divided into small-holder farming and large-scale commercial farming (Gilimani, 2005).Large-scale commercial farming is profit-driven, while resource-poor farmers form the bulk of small-holder farmers and rear their cattle on communal rangelands (Bryson et al., 2002).Most of the small-holder farmers reside in communal areas and are categorised as 'subsistence farmers' since they produce mainly for household consumption (Van Averbeke and Mohamed, 2006).Due to the edaphic and bio-physical characteristics of the Eastern Cape province of South Africa, it is well known for livestock production in the country (Palmer and Ainslie, 2006) with a population of about 1.5 million *Corresponding author.E-mail: vmuchenje@ufh.ac.za.
cattle grazing on natural pastures on common grazing grounds (Masika and Mafu, 2004).The agricultural opportunities for livestock in this province include; organic meat production, established links of partner investors with community-based organisations, and agricultural cooperatives that encourage new commercial livestock enterprises [Eastern Cape Development Co-operation (ECDC), 2011].Improving livestock production in this province is coupled with poverty alleviation and has been a subject for many development agencies (ECDC, 2011).
The University of Fort Hare (UFH), Eastern Cape Provincial Department of Agriculture and other related institutions are working in the communal areas to nurture the breeding programs for the restoration of Nguni cattle, an indigenous breed.A lot of research has been done on Nguni cattle in different areas (Scholtz, 2005) within the region in an effort to justify the suitability of the breed to be raised commercially under tropical semi-arid low-input communal farmer conditions.Efforts to restore the value and tradition attached to the Nguni cattle in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa started in 1998 (Raats et al., 2004).The UFH Nguni Cattle Project Model of investing 10 in-calf heifers and 2 registered Nguni bulls is successfully running in 68 communities.This nucleus herd form the basis of community-based farm animal genetic resource conservation, preservation and utilization (Fuller, 2006).Each community is entitled to give back the same after five years.The adaptability and disease tolerance of the Nguni cattle indicate a unique potential to produce high quality meat and skins under ecologically controlled free ranging conditions.These registered indigenous animals are focused to fetch between 3 to 5 times the prices of beef animals and is therefore an effective method of reducing input costs and adding value to the existing beef cattle herds in the communities (Mapiye et al., 2009).Nguni cattle restoration program is beneficial with a long-term goal of developing a niche market for Nguni meat and skins as well as positioning communal farmers to the lucrative global food market through organic production and product processing (Raats et al., 2004).
In an effort to empower a great number of communal people, the beneficiaries to the UFH Nguni Cattle Project Model were categorized as village-owned and groupowned enterprises.In village-owned enterprises, the elected village committee is responsible for the animal care.In group-owned enterprises, 4 to 7 members or a family trust in Land Redistribution and Agriculture Development (LRAD) farms are responsible for animal care.This was because cattle ownership has been established for long to be a livelihood option of the communal farmers (Shackleton et al., 2005).The ownership patterns have direct influence on the decisions and management of these animal genetic resources as individual decisions have been associated with selfish and speculative thoughts benefiting only the owner (Ainslie, 2005;Palmer and Ainslie, 2006;Winter, 2007).Many studies have reported on the general functions of communal cattle (Dovie et al., 2006;Mapiye et al., 2009) while information is scarce on the functions of Nguni cattle in the communal areas of South Africa.Understanding the functions of the Nguni cattle to the communal farmers is of importance in the sustainability of the restoration and conservation of this adaptable genetic resource.The study seeks to highlight the roles of Nguni cattle from the farmer perspective under different enterprise ownership system in an ecologically controlled low-input production system.
It has long been established that the most direct method of valuing genetic resources is to privatise them and allow the market to set a price (Brush and Meng, 1996).In theory, this would provide compensation to those who safeguard the genetic resources, thus stimulating conservation at enterprise level while providing an Tada et al. 11305 idea of genetic resources users' willingness to pay for conservation.A general study by Musemwa et al. (2010) on cattle prices in the Amathole, Alfred Nzo and Chris Hani Districts of the Eastern Cape province did not specify the animal classes hence a high coefficient of variation and values ranged from R1 500.00 to R8 000.00 per animal.This perceived monetary value of the indigenous animal genetic resource is what the household achieves and is the main source of cash for these communal farmers (Mapiye et al., 2009), which can vary according to enterprise ownership pattern.Two cattle generations have passed since the commencement of UFH Nguni Cattle Project Model.An evaluation of the intervention program from a social and economic perspective is justified given this timeframe.Information on marketing options, infrastructure development and perception and concerns of farmers on enterprise profitability assist in describing the low-input Nguni cattle production system in the Eastern Cape Province.The objective of the study was therefore to determine the differences between village-owned and group-owned enterprises on perceived monetary value of the indigenous animal genetic resources, current roles, marketing options, and farmer concerns of Nguni cattle under low-input production system.It was hypothesized that socio-economic characteristics between villageowned and group-owned enterprises were similar.

Description of study sites and selection of communities
The survey was conducted in 41 communities that benefited from the UFH, Industrial Development Cooperation (IDC) and Eastern Cape Department of Agriculture (ECDA) Nguni Cattle project in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa.Twenty-two communities were village-owned enterprises with an elected project committee composed of the local village people (Table 1).Nineteen communities were group-owned enterprises, of which a group was composed of 4 to 7 individuals, or a family trust (Table 2).The group-owned enterprises were in Land Re-distribution and Agriculture Development (LRAD) farms, a relatively new introduced land-ownership system by the government of South Africa.The communities were selected based on the duration of the Nguni project.The projects that were 36 to 60 months old were considered.Convenience sampling was done as the communities that met the criteria were all considered.

Data and information collection
Data and information were collected from 41 enterprises in the communities mentioned (Tables 1 and 2) using a community pretested structured questionnaire with the help of the respective Nguni cattle management committees.The interviews were conducted in the Xhosa vernacular by trained enumerators.The questionnaire captured data and information on; basic demography, a description of agriculture production system, agriculture extension and training services, sources of income, Nguni cattle functions, monetary value of all animal classes, marketing options and farmer perceptions and concerns on the Nguni cattle restoration program.The sources of income of the communal low-input farmers were limited to the farming activities which included cattle sales (67%), other livestock (48%), pensions (50%), and some work (12%).

Farmer training and development of infrastructure
There were no significant association attributable to the differences in enterprise ownership type on farmer training and development of infrastructure (p > 0.05).The majority of the farmers (66%) indicated lack of formal training and highlighted special topics for and/or further training in animal husbandry.The topics included; breeding (selection and mating systems) (90%), herd health (68%), animal feeds and feeding (75%), animal records (70%), and animal products marketing (70%).The low-input Nguni cattle producers acknowledged the Nguni cattle restoration and conservation effort through the UFH Nguni Cattle Project Model.The remarkable assistance and infrastructure development include; herd health materials (72%), cattle identification (66%), handling facilities (22%), and fencing (12%).

Functions of Nguni cattle
The Nguni cattle in the communal areas play a significant role to meet the program goals and human needs.All the evaluated cattle functions were not significantly associated with cattle enterprise ownership categories (p > 0.05).The farmers (100%) acknowledged the upgrading and conservation role of the Nguni cattle within their cattle herds.Only 7% of the farmers in the villageowned enterprises use the Nguni cattle in ploughing as a source of draught power.In groupowned enterprises the Nguni cattle were not used in any form of draught power.Traditional functions of dowry (55%) and ceremonial rituals (57%) were observed.All the farmers (100%) use the Nguni cattle as a source of cash while 40% preserves their social status in the community by keeping Nguni cattle.Meat (100%), skin (67%) and manure (62%) were the most common Nguni cattle products sought after by the farmers.Only 5% of the farmers milked the Nguni cattle and testified that the milk quantities were below average compared to other breeds and crosses.The milk was consumed as fresh and/or sour.

Monetary valuation of Nguni cattle
Table 4 shows the perceived prices of Nguni cattle as indicated by the farmers.It was observed that prices of calves, bullocks, in-calf heifers, cows of above sixth parity, and breeding bulls were not significantly different in the low-input production system across enterprise ownership patterns (p > 0.05).Significant differences between village-owned and group-owned enterprises were observed on open heifers, castrates, and cows of parity six and less (p < 0.05).Villageowned enterprises had significantly higher perceived prices than group-owned enterprises (p < 0.05) on all the mentioned animal classes.Apart from cattle ownership, other factors affecting the price of the animals included; age of farmer, education level and agriculture training.Younger farmers of less than 40 years with a college qualification and had gone through formal training in agriculture had significantly higher prices of bullocks and in-calf heifers (p < 0.05).

Marketing strategy and concerns of Nguni cattle farmers
Different perceptions on Nguni cattle farming by communal low-input producers were observed.Most farmers viewed the enterprises as profitable (67%), while some where not sure (14%) and others said it was not profitable (19%).A significant association was observed between farmer perception on enterprise profitability and ownership pattern whereby group-owned enterprises were perceived to be profitable (p<0.05).The farmers in group-owned enterprises had significantly low concerns pertaining to stock theft, grazing land and drought mitigation (p<0.05).Drought was only a concern in 35% of the farmers.Community gatherings were the most ranked option of marketing livestock among other methods such as (in order of rank); cattle sale pens/auctions, abattoirs, Nguni program, contracts, and none.
The concerns raised by the farmers with regard to lowinput Nguni cattle were not significantly associated with enterprise ownership pattern except for the grazing land and long age at first calving and calving intervals.The village-owned enterprises (48%) highlighted the problem of grazing land as well as heifers taking long to calve and having long calving intervals (52%).Animal reproductive issues observed include; unequal birth sex ratios with more male calves (5%), infertile females (18%), and abortions and still-born (18%).Only 39% of the farmers had problem with cattle diseases while 20% had problems in accessing vaccines and cattle dips.The majority of Nguni cattle farmers had concerns of uncontrolled mating (52%) and bull selection (28%) in the herds.When it comes to marketing Nguni cattle products, farmers had problems in pricing products (7%), prices being influenced by the buyer (16%), racial discrimination (5%), and only a few options exist (5%).General animal husbandry practices were observed to be hindered by lack of animal handling facilities (14%), dip tanks (14%), animal identification (7%) and husbandry equipment (55%).

DISCUSSION
The demographic information in village-owned and group-owned enterprises was similar to those observed in many rural communities of most developing countries (Hanotte et al., 2002;Coetzee et al., 2004).Both enterprise-ownership patterns are located in rural areas of the province were most young people desert to urban centres in search of tertiary education and high-paying jobs.Low literacy levels are manifested by higher frequencies of primary and secondary level farmers as well as high (80%) informal training in agriculture in both enterprise-ownership patterns.Due to the lack of formal training in agriculture, the majority of farmers indicated the need especially on critical topics that deal with animal breeding, records, marketing and disease resistance.The efforts done, as the mandate, by the research and extension institutions included the supply of dipping chemicals and vaccines, branding of animals, construction of handling facilities especially dip-tanks and cattle races (Fuller, 2006;ECDC, 2011).This was done with low success rate in both the village and groupowned enterprises.
Livestock enterprises form the backbone of the agriculture activities in the Eastern Cape Province due to the edaphic and bio-physical characteristics of the area.Previous studies observed the same functions and contribution of cattle and livestock sales to household income (Mapiye et al., 2009).The cattle in the communal areas serve various functions (Ainslie, 2005;Dovie et al., 2006) of which the Nguni cattle in both enterprises have a reserved special function of upgrading the local cattle, tradition and household income and social status.Current results are similar to a study in Limpopo Province by Shackleton et al. (2005) on the contribution and direct-

Table 1 .
Pedo-climatic conditions and enterprise duration of village-owned Nguni cattle enterprises in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa.
square tests were computed to determine the association between cattle enterprise ownership type with the age of the farmer, education level, agriculture training, functions of Nguni cattle, farmer perceptions and concerns, and marketing options.Descriptive statistics were computed for agriculture enterprises in the communities, sources of level of education and training in agriculture on the perceived monetary value of different Nguni cattle classes.The linear model used was: Yijklm = µ + Oi + Aj + Ek + Tl + εijklm Where Yijklm = price of various cattle classes (calves,

Table 2 .
Pedo-climatic conditions and enterprise duration of group-owned Nguni cattle enterprises in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa.

Table 3 .
Distribution of farmers in village-owned and group-owned cattle enterprises according to age, highest education level attained and type of agriculture training received.

Table 4 .
Monetary value of different Nguni cattle classes as determined by the communal low-input producers in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa.