Factors affecting adoption of livestock identification and trace-back system among cattle farmers in Kgalagadi district, Botswana

O I Oladele and M Jood*

Department of Agricultural Economics and Extension, North-West University Mafikeng Campus, South Africa
* Department of Agricultural Economics, Education and Extension, Botswana College of Agriculture, University of Botswana, Gaborone
oladele20002001@yahoo.com

Abstract

This paper examines factors affecting adoption of Livestock Identification and   Trace-Back System among cattle farmers in  Kgalagadi  district, Botswana.  Simple random sampling technique was used to select 58 cattle farmers from three of the six extension areas in Kgalagadi - district. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data and was analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) with frequency counts, percentages, means, standard deviation and multiple regression analysis.

The results showed that most of the respondents 71.4% traveled more than 10 km to access the crushes where their animals can be inserted with bolus. The most prominent information source was veterinary extension officer (59.3%). Approximately, 98% of the cattle farmers had adopted LITS through insertion of bolus in their animals. Positive statements were bolus can be used to locate lost or stolen animals (4.51), Animal   identification is important (4.30), LITS is beneficial to the nation in that the country has access to the lucrative EU market and thus earning it foreign exchange and (4.34). Significant determinants were age (t = -2.05), income (t = 2.10) and distance to crushes (t = -3.21).

Keywords: animal tracking, bolus, farmers’ perception, radio frequency identification, traceability

Introduction

Botswana has a human population of about 2 million, a cattle population of about 3 million and an arid climate that favour livestock farming more than crop farming. Eighty percent of the national herd is owned by people with 1-20 herd size in extensively managed open grazing areas (CSO 2009). Botswana beef is primarily produced for   export   with 70-75% going to EU countries and   15% and 10% going to South Africa and Norway respectively. People living in rural areas and they depend on livestock production as a major source of livelihood. Their livelihood depends upon livestock.  This has made them receptive to technologies such as LITS. However, there remain constraints to their adoption.

Changes in global market requirements and consumer demands affect Botswana beef export (Fanakiso 2009). Subsequently, series of stringent regulatory measures pertaining to food traceability were introduced. These regulations had bearing on Botswana’s beef export to European Union (EU).  Traceability  is  an  essential   component  of  any risk  management  strategy  and  is  a key  requirement  for  post  marketing  surveillance. It  provides  the  ability  to  identify  and  track  a  product  or  a  component  to  its  point  of  origin (Yordanov  and  Angelova  2006).

According to Kedikilwe (2006) the Government of Botswana introduced Livestock Identification and Trace-back System (LITS) for the electronic individual identification and registration of cattle; establishment of country of origin.  This was meant to permit monitoring of diseases, traceability of beef products to the farm of origin, in fulfillment of EU export requirements. The first phase was completed in 2001. A rumen bolus is about the size of a ‘baby’ carrot and has a ceramic coating that covers a microchip with unique number. Bolus is inserted only in branded cattle that were at least three months old. Each bolus costs about US$2.50 for a new bolus, whilst a recycled one costs US$1.45. 

The bolus inserted into an animal is read and subsequently transmitted to the central data base through radio link by docking extension officer personal computer to the Government Data Network. The animal identity number (AIN) is associated with the owner’s name, number, brand, brand position, sex, color, location of registration and date. The central database comprises the primary server at the Ministry of Agriculture and duplicate cluster server at Department of Information Technology. Districts have access to the central database through computer terminals where querying and reporting of data is carried out.

LITS employs radio frequency identification devices (RFID) technology to capture data on individual cattle, which is transmitted directly, error-free, to a central database. The database enables Botswana's meat export agency to obtain European Union EU certification for its beef exports, and is a key repository of information for livestock farmers, as well as for state veterinary services and health authorities. LITS is being implemented by Research Solution Integrators (formerly known as AST) Botswana and Inala Identification and Control (South Africa).  LITS has encouraged everyone involved in livestock management to be more thorough and to be creative in finding new ways of working and monitoring performance. Veterinary officers can rapidly isolate animals for treatment; update health records at the point of treatment; track weight gain in selected animals; correlate feeding programmes with yield; select specific bulls for breeding programmes; and track animal family trees. Livestock are not only valuable assets, they are also the start of a food supply chain with serious consequences in terms of health and profitability if the risks are not properly managed (Burger 2004).

In Australia, according to NLIS (2009), the National Livestock Identification System (NLIS) originated from early 1960s when Australia undertook a program to eradicate Bovine Tuberculosis and Brucellosis and  using machine-readable devices (RFID) either an ear tag, or a rumen bolus/ear tag combination to identify cattle. The Canadian Livestock Traceability System [CLTS]) houses the national ID and trace back system for a variety of industry and species groups, including dairy, beef, bison, sheep, pork and poultry. The CLTS is the core of cattle marketing programs in Canada as it is the source of information providing international markets with credible data on their cattle exports (Canadian Live-stock Identification Agency 2005). The implementation of national  and individual animal traceability programs in  United  States  of  America was borne out of concerns about animal health, potential bio-terrorism, food safety, international trade, consumer demand for credence attributes, and improving supply chain management have made animal and meat traceability essential. The New Mexico Livestock identification and Tracking System is a system for tracing livestock forward and backward through the production and marketing system. It also provides animal health officials with the capability to identify all livestock and premises that have had direct contact with a disease of concern within 48 hours after discovery (Parker 2004, de Souza-Monteiro and Caswell 2004).

It has been hypothesized that farmers’ adoption behaviour is motivated by a number of factors pertaining to the farmer and the farm, including the human capital (age, sex), financial (profits, non-farm income), farm structure (size, ownership), and social characteristics (distance, population pressure).  The  objective  of  the  study  was  to  determine   the  factors  affecting  the adoption  of  bolus insertion  among  cattle  farmers  in Kgalagadi district.

Methodology 

A descriptive survey design was used to conduct the study. The target population of the study was 4041 cattle farmers in Kgalagadi district distributed within 24 extension areas. Six  extension areas namely Bokspits, Werda, Hukuntsi, Kang, Tsabong and Middlepits areas were randomly selected and 58 cattle farmers were randomly selected from the. A structured questionnaire was designed based on the review of related literature and objectives of the study and comprised personal, factors affecting adoption of bolus insertion (LITS) and constraints to the adoption of   LITS. Reliability of the instrument was established by conducting a pilot test with a similar sample group in Mochudi; a split half test gave 0.98 coefficients. Data were analyzed with Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) using frequencies, percentages, mean and multiple regressions.

Results and discussions 

Table 1 shows demographics of cattle farmers in Kgalagadi district in Botswana. The results showed the dominance of men in cattle production as an occupation as well as low level of income of between 1000 and 6000 generally.

Farm characteristics of cattle farmers in Kgalagadi district, Botswana were presented in table 2.  About 78% had at least 100 cattle as herd size, with Friesian breed as the most prominent (57.6%), 95 % belong to farmers’ organization, while 71.4% traveled more than 10 km to get to crushes where their animals can be inserted with bolus. The most prominent information source was veterinary extension officer (59.3%) About 98% of the cattle farmers had adopted LITS through insertion of bolus in their animals. It is however noteworthy that of these 98% only 9% actually adopted LITS for the whole herd size.

Table 3 shows the mean and standard deviation of 20 items  on attitude towards  adoption of Livestock Identification and  Trace-back System which were rated  on  a 5 Likert scale of strongly agree (5), Agree (4), Undecided (3), Disagree (2), strongly disagree (1).

The actual mean was 3 due to the rating scale and a mean of greater than 3 denoted a positive attitude while a mean less than 3 denoted negative attitude of farmers towards adoption of LITS.  Out of 20 attitudinal statements, 16 were rated positive and favorable. Prominent favorable statements were bolus can be used to locate lost or stolen animals (4.51), animal   identification is important (4.30), LITS is beneficial to the nation in that the country has access to the lucrative EU market and thus earning it foreign exchange (4.34) and Bolus insertion system is better than ear tags system (4.08).

Burger (2004) reported that with the use of LITS, veterinary officers can rapidly isolate animals for treatment; update health records at the point of treatment; track weight gain in selected animals; correlate feeding programmes with yield; select specific bulls for breeding programmes; and track animal family trees. Livestock are not only valuable assets; they are also the start of a food supply chain with serious consequences in terms of health and profitability if the risks are not properly managed. Conversely, cattle farmers in Kgalagadi district, Botswana were not favorably disposed, claimed that  bolus kills animals (2.19), bolus insertion is difficult to be carried out (2.98), setting up the tracing equipment takes time (2.61) and bolus is corrosive to the intestine (2.32).

The result of multiple regression analysis of relationships between farmers’, farm characteristics and Adoption of Livestock Identification and   Trace-back System by cattle farmers is presented in Table 4. 

The independent variables were significantly related to adoption of Livestock Identification and   Trace-back System with F value of 2.1, p < 0.05.  Also, R value of 0.67 showed that there was a strong correlation between independent variables and adoption of Livestock Identification and   Trace-back System. The result further predicted 46 % of the variation in adoption of Livestock Identification and Trace-back System by farmers. Significant determinants were age (t = -2.05), income (t = 2.10) and distance to crushes (t = -3.21). The result implies that the higher the income derived by farmers, the higher adoption of Livestock Identification and   Trace-back System.  However, as age and distance to crushes increases, adoption of Livestock Identification and   Trace-back System decreases.  

The trend of these results may be attributed to the fact that adoption of livestock technologies had been reported to be influenced by farmer’s educational level, years of experience, farm size, membership in cooperative organization income and herd size (Irungu et al 1998). Anim (2008) reported that, in South Africa, cattle farmers’ age, education, income and herd size determines their willingness to pay for extension services.  These factors would influence their choice of practices and activities to enhance profit maximization. The inverse relationship between distance to crushes and perceived relevance of livestock technologies was due to the fact that bolus were inserted to cattle in designated crushes by veterinary  officers. This use of bolus by farmers would ensure their conformity to the required standards by the Botswana Meat Commission, an agency through which farmers market their cattle.

Conclusions 

The study has clearly shown that: 

• Many cattle farmers in Kgalagadi district in Botswana were above 30 years of age, males, married, had secondary school education, had less than 10 dependants, had income between 1000 to 6000BWP and had been farming for at least 10 years.

  
  

• Prominent favorable statements were Bolus can be used to locate lost or stolen animals, Animal identification is important; LITS is beneficial to the nation in that the country has access to the lucrative EU market and thus earning it foreign exchange and Bolus insertion system is better than ear tags system.

  
  

• Significant factors influencing adoption of Livestock Identification and Trace-back System were age, income and distance to crushes.

References 

Anim F D K 2008 Cattle Owners’ willingness to pay for Extension Services in South Africa.  Journal of Extension Systems 24(1):31-43

Burger T 2004 LITS: tracking Botswana’s livestock using radio waves ICT Update- current awareness bulletin for ACP agriculture. Issue 15 January 2004. http://ictupdate.cta.int/en/Feature-Articles/LITS-tracking-Botswana-s-livestock-using-radio-waves

Canadian Livestock Identification Agency 2005 Canadian Livestock Traceability Backgrounder. http://www.canadianlivestockid.ca Accessed January 2010.

Central Statistics Office (CSO) 2009 Agricultural Statistics. Ministry of Agriculture Government Printer, Gaborone, Botswana. Pp.50 -110

de Souza Monteiro Diogo Monjardino and Caswell, Julie A 2004 The Economics of Implementing Traceability in Beef Supply Chains: Trends in Major Producing and Trading Countries (June 2004). University of Massachusetts, Amherst Working Paper No. 2004-6. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=560067

Fanakiso M 2009 Botswana farming http://www.botswanafarming.com/ accessed November 2009.

Irungu PS Mbongo S Staal S Thorp W Njubi D 1998 Kenya Agricultural Research Institute: Factors Influencing adoption of Napier grass in smallholder dairy  in highlands of Kenya; Agricultural Research and Development for Sustainable Resource Management and Increased Production, Proceedings of the 6^th Bi-annual KARI Scientific Conference, pp 294-301.

Kedikilwe O 2006 LITS  in Botswana: An overview Paper presented at the Department  of  Animal   Health   and  Production  Workshop  held  at  Meat  Inspection  Training  Centre , Lobatse  Botswana. 16 October 2006.

Parker R 2004 New Mexico Livestock Identification and Tracking System USA. http://www.newmexicolivestockboard.com/Files/NAIP/Files/Animal%20ID%20Questions%20-%20NM%20IV.doc

Yordanov D and  Angelova G 2006 .Identification and Traceability of  Meat  and  Meat  Products  .Biotechnology and  Biotechnical  Equipment  .Publisher  : Diagnosis  Press   ,ISSN  1310-2818 Vol 20 (1)

Received 22 March 2010; Accepted 14 June 2010; Published 1 August 2010

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