Effects of drought on cattle and farmers’ coping strategies in Kakooge subcounty, Nakasongola District

Abstract

The study documented the effects of drought on cattle and farmers’ coping strategies in Kakooge subcounty, Nakasongola District. Nakasongola is one of the districts with in the cattle corridor that is renowned for its significance in livestock production and its vulnerability to recurrent drought events. Droughts are periods of prolonged water scarcity and limited pasture availability, posing substantial challenges to both livestock and farmers’ livelihoods. Data was collected using structured questionnaires from one hundred and twenty one cattle farmers selected randomly from Kakooge subcounty. The results of the study showed that at least half of the cattle farmers reported seven effects of droughts on cattle in Kakooge subcounty. The effects included inadequate pasture (90%), low milk yield (89%), inadequate water (88%), disease outbreaks (76%), mortalities (63%), loss of weight (59%), and low market prices (50%). Further, in terms of economic losses, cattle farmers experienced a loss in average monthly income equivalent to 4,354,559 during the drought period as compared to the non-drought period. The losses were largely attributed to decline in milk production (55%) and cattle mortalities (37%). In addition, results showed that several drought coping strategies were used by cattle farmers. Importantly, six strategies were used by at least a quarter of the cattle farmers and these were: pre-drought vaccination (34%), post-drought vaccination (41%), pre-drought culling of adult cattle (26%), increase in frequency of spraying (26%) and provision of mineral licks (26%). Overall, the findings of this study suggest the cattle farmers in Kakooge subcounty are highly affected by drought and that there is need for designing and implementation of low-cost alternative interventions that can enhance their resilience to drought.