Abstract
Livestock production is a major economic and livelihood activity in Namibia which contributes at least 75% to total agricultural output. The industry faces challenges including prolonged droughts, increased production costs, bush encroachment, variable climatic conditions and disease outbreaks. Bush encroachment and prolonged drought spells pose a major concern as they result in reduced carrying capacity of rangelands. The encroacher woody browse plants are potential animal feeds as they provide considerable amount of biomass from leaves and small twigs as well as pods that provide nutrients to ruminant livestock during the long dry season. Converting the biomass from the encroacher bushes into livestock fodder is one best management practice of controlling bush encroachment while increasing the availability of ruminant feeds sustainably without competing with human food production. Our chapter provides data on the nutritional content of encroacher bushes in different seasons and feeding value of bush-based feeds as an alternative feed resource for ruminant livestock. The chapter presents the opportunity and evidence that shows that utilising encroacher bush-based feeds in ruminant livestock feeding results in animal growth and the production of quality carcasses that contribute to human protein food. We conclude that the utilisation of rangeland encroacher bush species in sub-Saharan Africa in bush-based feeds provides sufficient nutrients to support improved ruminant livestock production and contributes to rangeland ecosystems restoration.
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Mupangwa, J., Lutaaya, E., Shipandeni, M.N.T., Kahumba, A., Charamba, V., Shiningavamwe, K.L. (2023). Utilising Encroacher Bush in Animal Feeding. In: Fanadzo, M., Dunjana, N., Mupambwa, H.A., Dube, E. (eds) Towards Sustainable Food Production in Africa. Sustainability Sciences in Asia and Africa(). Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-2427-1_14
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