Integrated Crop-Livestock Systems in Newly Resettled Areas of Goromonzi District in Zimbabwe

Abstract

Crop-livestock integration has been a foundation of agriculture for years. A survey was conducted to assess crop-livestock integration in resettled areas of ward 17, Goromonzi district in Zimbabwe. Five villages and 25 families per village were randomly selected in the ward. A semi- structured questionnaire was administered to collect information on household demography, level of education, farming history, livestock and crop management. Data were analyzed using the statistical package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 16. The youngest respondent was 27 while the oldest was over 77 years old. Ninety percent of the respondents produced maize. Cattle were the most common livestock species with an average herd size of 9.8 and providing draught power and manure. Maize stover was the crop residue widely used for feeding livestock. It was concluded that there was evidence of crop-livestock integration in Goromonzi and recommended that farmers improve the nutritive value of residues for feeding livestock.

Keywords: Cattle, crops residues, draught power, livestock, maize, newly resettled farmers