FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH RESEARCH AND EXTENSION
WORK IN LIVESTOCK PRODUCTION IN THE
IVORY COAST
'.(""
A Dissertation
~
0~'1.
6'/
. \\'
-9/]etnent suge
Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the
Louisiana State University and
Agricultural and Mechanical College
in partial fulfillment of the
requirements for the degree of
Doctor of Education
in
The Department of Extension and
International Education
by
Nathalie Zongo N'guessan
Ingenieur Agronome, Ivory Coast,
1976
M.A., University of Florida, 1979
May 1983

---

DEDICATION
I realized long ago that no one ever stands alone
in making accomplishments.
Although our dreams are born
from deep within us, their realization always includes those
individuals close enough to reach out and touch.
Everything that I am and everythin~~tfiat I will
become reflects the unending devotion of four dear
individuals.
They are forever present in every aspect of my
life and share in everything that I dare to believe.
It was
their faith in my ability that ultimately led to the reward
of this thesis.
For instilling a desire within me to keep
reaching for the stars, I dedicate this document to:
Tantie Therese, a mother and a friend:
To her husband, the President Felix Houphouet-
Boigny, a father:
To the late Zongo Vi~cent, my father:
To Yameogo Josephine, my mother.
I
extend my dedication to the late Brou Lambert who
gave birth to the nice Tantie Therese: to the late Tata Bea
that I
loved very much: to the late Zongo Dieudonne, my
brother: to the late Mr. Labbe Jean Paul Nabi:
to the late
Papa Marc:
to Mr. Maurice Yameogo, my uncle and his family;
i i

---

to the Houphonet-Boigny family,
the children--Marie, Helene,
etc.; to Madame Suzanne Brou, Tantie Therese's mother;
to
Tata Henriette for being always nice to me and her family;
to all my aunts; to all my brothers and sisters; to all my
cousins; to my nephews; to my husband, Dr. N'guessan Konan
Gabriel and his familYi
to my friends--Elisabeth, Goli,
Marie Berthe, Marylee, Lynda, Joceline--Yanick, etc.v~o the
Monif; to the Thompson; to all the "kids"--Therese and Papy
Tolbert; to Coco Vanessai to Marylise; to Francis; to
Olivier; to Noelie,
to Matou; to Mr. L'abbe Abekan Norbert
and a big thanks for his moral support and prayers; to my
god children--Lucie, Taricou, etc.i to my children, Rachelle
and Beatricei and to the youngest of the family, Audry
Beatrice; and all the African ladies in the fields.
i i i

---

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Several persons are worthy of my wholehearted
esteem for the help rendered in the completion of this study.
I am especially indebted to Dr. Lynn Pesson, Vice Chancellor
of Student Affairs and major professor, for his knowledge of
the French language, and for his suggestions throughout
every phase of this research.
His confidence in my
abilities exemplified by the atmosphere created by all of
his family in completing this project was greatly
appreciated.
The opportunity to work closely with him was a
personally rewarding experience.
I
am also gratefu~ to his
lovely wife, Earline, for being like a second mother to me
and my little family.
I
extend my gratitude to Dr. Edward
W. Gassie, Professor and Head of the Department of Extension
Education for his assistance,
to Dr. Satish Verma, Professor
of Extension Education, for his suggestions, and to the late
Dr. Donald M. Thrasher, Professor Animal Science, who was a
great help to me.
He taught me animal production as well
being nice and available to others.
I
wish to thank Dr.
Donald E. Franke, Professor of Animal Science, for always
being available and patient each time I
walked into his
iv

---

office for help.
My sincere appreciation goes to Dr. Joseph
E. Sedberry, Jr., Professor of Agronomy for making Agronomy
7051 and 7052 two of the most enjoyable courses at LSU.
My
sincere thanks go also to Dr. Balla Keita, Minister of
Research in the Ivory Coast, to Dr. Yao, Director of the
CRZ,
to Dr. Abosoh Jules, at SODEPRA, and to Yeboue Koffi
Korhogo, for making the information available for this study.
My appreciation goes also to all my colleagues, Koffi A.
Valentin and others for their cooperation during the data
collection and also for the time spent in making this study
possible.
Sincere thanks also go to
Barbara Jackson, to
Rita Marchand and to all of the personnel in Dr. Pesson's
office for being so kind to me, and to Joy Perry for her
professional job of typing this dissertation.
v

---

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS . . . .... ... .. ..... ... . . . .. .. .. ... . . . . .
iv
LIST OF TABLES
ix
LIST OF FIGURES .......... .... ... . ... . .. ... . . .... . .. .
xiii
ABSTRACT . ... . ... .. ........ . ... . . . . . . . .. .. .. .. .. . .. ..
ivx
Chapter
I.
INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . • . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1
The Ivory Coast . • . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2
Demography
.
2
The Rural Population •••••••••••••••.••
4
Geography and Climate •••••••••••••.•.•
5
Agr icul ture
.
7
Livestock Production •.•••,.,....~.,.•••..•.••
· "-
9
k
1 Vc',,,
,~~"
..
'
,'~
'7~~.... ~_. --<' ~,,\\:,
The Problemn •.•••••.• ~.c.,./•••••••,. ;>_.•\\ .••••••••
11
~. I
\\'~;,
S .
. f .
f
h J;J
Ignl lcance 0
t
e J S'tr.d~ 'VJ
\\
y
. .u
yl .~ •• I••,.:~•••••••
12
li:" \\
-
~
i
..L.i
\\i 0
1
\\\\C:., \\
~f
11.
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK •.•~~ ••..••.••• ,~-)••••...
15
. "
'0<'1;7
Agr icul tural Developnf~tttc2'~in~sp?{~ica •...
15
Research and Extension .:-••.•.•••.....•
23
Livestock Production in Africa •••.....
33
Ill.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ••.•.•....•...••.•.•.•..
46
Sample Selection •.••.•.•••.•.••.•..•..
47
The Interview Schedule ••••...••..•....
50
Collection of the Data.................
51
Analysis of the Data .•••.....•••••.•..
52
vi

---

TABLE OF CONTENTS (CONTINUED)
Chapter
Page
IV.
LIVESTOCK RESEARCH AND EXTENSION WORK
54
The Livestock Producer
54
Cattle Production
58
Livestock Research
60
The Center for Animal Research
.
60
Pasture/Forage Program
.
63
Animal Production Program
.
64
The Antennae System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . •
66
Li vestock Extens ion Work . . . . . . . . . . • . . . . . . .
72
SODEPRA Programs
73
Organi za tion of SODEPRA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . •
76
Accomplishments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . • . • . . . .
77
V.
DATA FROM THE LIVESTOCK PRODUCERS . . . . . . . • . . .
79
Characteristics of the Livestock
Producers
79
Activities of the Livestock
Producers
89
Farming Operations
99
Nature and Scope of the Operation . . . . •
103
The Livestock Production Program ...•.•
I I I
Livestock Marketing and Use
118
Problems of the Livestock Producers
127
Participation in SODEPRA Programs
130
Opinions about SODEPRA Programs . . . . . . •
132
VI.
SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS . . . .
140
Summary
140
Research Design
141
Summary of Findings
143
Co n cl us ion s
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . • . • . . . . . . •
146
Recommendations
152
vii

---

TABLE OF CONTENTS (CONTINUED)
Page
BIBLIOGRAPHY
158
APPENDIX
166
VITA
169
viii

---

LIST OF TABLES
Table
Page
1.
A Comparison by Membership in SODEPRA of
Livestock Producers as to Ethnic Group
80
2.
A Comparison by Membership in SODEPRA of
Livestock Producers as to Tribal Group
82
3.
A Comparison by Membership in SODEPRA of
Livestock Producers as to Religious_
ff ' l '
,
~
A
1 latlon
-
.
84
4.
A Comparison by Membership in SODEPRA of
Livestock Producers as to Family Size •••.•.•
85
5.
A Comparison by Membership in SODEPRA of
Livestock Producers as to the Number
of Wives
•••••••••••••.••••••••••••••••••.•••
87
6.
A Comparison by Membership in SODEPRA of
Livestock Producers as to Level of
Education
- . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
88
7.
A Comparison by Membership in SODEPRA of
Livestock Producers as to the Duration
of Livestock Production •..•••••.••••••...•..
90
8.
A comparison by Membership in SODEPRA of
Livestock Producers as to the Extent of
Personal Involvement in Livestock
Production
91
9.
A Comparison by Membership in SODEPRA of
Livestock Producers as to the Importance
of Livestock in Their Rural Activities
. . • . . .
93
la.
A comparison by Membership in SODEPRA of
Livestock Producers as to the Principal
Activities During the Wet Season •••••..•....
95
ix

---

LIST OF TABLES (CONTINUED)
Table
Page
11.
A comparison by Membership in SODEPRA of
Livestock Producers as to Activities
During the Dry Season
97
12.
A Comparison by Membership in SODEPRA of
Livestock Producers as to System of
Inher i tance
98
13.
A comparison by Membership in SODEPRA of
/
Livestock Producers as to Crops Grown
100
14.
A comparison by Membership in SODEPRA of
Livestock Producers as to the Number
of Crops Grown
102
15.
A comparison by Membership in SODEPRA of
Livestock Producers as to Nature of the
Operation
104
16.
A comparison by Membership in SODEPRA of
Livestock Producers as to Nature-of the
commercial or Non-Commercial Nature of
the Operation
106
17.
A comparison by Membership in SODEPRA of
Livestock Producers as to the Number of
Hectares Owned
107
18.
A Comparison by Membership in SODEPRA of
Livestock Producers as to Amount of Land
Reserved for Livestock Production
109
19.
A Comparison by Membership in SODEPRA of
Livestock Producers as to Number of
Li vestock owned
110
20.
A Comparison by Membership in SODEPRA of
Livestock Producers as to Number of Cattle
Owned
112
x

---

LIST OF TABLES (CONTINUED)
Table
Page
21.
A Comparison by Membership in SODEPRA of
Livestock Producers as to Breed of Cattle
Rai sed
113
22.
A Comparison by Membership in SODEPRA of
Livestock Producers as to the Livestock
Feeding Program
115
23.
A Comparison by Membership in SODEPRA of
Livestock Producers as to Use of Forage
Cultivation Practice •••••••••.••••••••.•.•.•
117
24.
A Comparison by Membership in SODEPRA of
Livestock Producers as to Average Weight
of Ca t t le
119
25.
A Comparison by Membership in SODEPRA of
Livestock Producers as to Type of Animals
Sold
120
26.
A Comparison by Membership in SODEPRA of Live-
stock Producers as to Pl~ce of Marketing .•••
122
27.
A Comparison by Membership in SODEPRA of
Livestock Producers as to Use of Livestock
for Home Consumption •.•.•.•.•.•.•••.•••••.•.
123
28.
A Comparison by Membership in SODEPRA of
Livestock Producers as to Average Price
per Head of Cattle Marketed ••...•••.••.•.•..
125
29.
A Comparison by Membership in SODEPRA of
Livestock Producers as to Average Price
per Head of Sheep or Goat Marketed •.••••.•..
126
30.
A Comparison by Membership in SODEPRA of
Livestock Producers as to Perceived
Problems
128
31.
A Comparison by Membership in SODEPRA of
Livestock Producers as to Participation
in SODEPRA Programs
131
xi

---

LIST OF TABLES (CONTINUED)
Table
Page
32.
A comparison by Membership in SODEPRA of
Livestock Producers as to Their Opinions
About the Usefulness of SODEPRA
Innovations
133
33.
A Comparison by Membership in SODEPRA of
Livestock Producers as to Degree to Which
I nnova tions Meet Needs ..••••••...•.•••••••..
135
34.
A comparison by Membership in SODEPRA of
Livestock Producers as to SODEPRA Asking
Opinions of Producers About Objectives •..•..
137
35.
A Comparison by Membership in SODEPRA of
Livestock Producers as to Responses to
the Statement That SODEPRA Did Not Solve
Major Problems
138
xii

---

LIST OF FIGUBES
Figure
Page
1.
Map of the Ivory Coast .••.•••••••..•••••.•..•..
6
2.
Organization for Livestock Research and
Extension Work in the Ivory Coast .•.....•.••
55
3.
A Diagram of the Central Corra1 Used
in the Antennae
68
4.
Proposed Communi ca tion Channels •••.••• '. • • . • • • .
156
5.
Proposed Model for Livestock Production
Extension Work
157
xiii

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ABSTRACT
The overall objective of this study was to gather
basic information about livestock programs in the Ivory
Coast, and to determine factors that may be impeding the
successful accomplishment of these programs.
One hundred
and two livestock producers were interviewed--72 who were
-~
members of SODEPRA and 32 who were not.
The data from the
field study were coded onto computer sheets and transferred
to punched cards and percentages and Chi-Square Values were
calculated.
The major dependent variable, membership in
SODEPRA, was related to the independent variables in the
study.
Chi-Square values were used to determine if there
was a significant difference for each of the independent
variables when compared on membership in SODEPRA.
The .20
level of probability was used to establish the significance
of the relationship.
The case study approach was also used
to analyze the activities of the CRZ and the SODEPRA.
The findings show that the Mande, the Senoufo and
the Lobi were the main groups involved in livestock
production in the north.
The high rate of illiteracy
created a problem in promoting livestock production.
A lack
of motivation among livestock producers was noted.
Four
main breeds were raised in the Ivory Coast and natural
xiv

---

grazing was the most popular method of feeding the
ruminants,
resulting in a relatively low average weight of
the cattle.
The producers faced many problems, disease
being the most important one.
The interaction between CRZ
and SODEPRA was limited.
This thesis suggests that livestock production in
the Ivory Coast must go from a_ traditional type to a more
_ /
modern type of production using an extension approach.
The
basics for an effective and efficient system are present,
but much improvement is needed.
xv

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Chapter I
INTRODUCTION
The exports of agricultural crops, notably cocoa and
coffee, have been major components in the de~elopment of the
Ivory Coast.
The livestock development program has been
less successful.
Recent estimates have placed livestock
production at 43 percent of consumption levels, with 100,700
metric tons of meat being consumed, but only 42,800 metric
tons of meat being produced.
Swine and poultry production
levels are close to self-suffi~iency, but beef production is
extremely short with production only at 18.5 percent of
production.
Since beef is the principal source of meat,
i t
is important to take a serious look at the factors
associated with research and extension work in livestock
consumption and to make comparisons with the agricultural
areas which have been as successful.
The CRZ
(Center for
Animal Research) is the research institute in charge of
conducting research related to animal production and SODEPRA
(Livestock Production Development Agency) is the
governmental organization or soci~ty in charge of promoting
1

---

2
livestock production.
In this study the focus will be
placed on CRZ and SODEPRA to determine how effectively they
reach the objectives established by the government in the
sense of improving livestock production.
THE IVORY COAST
Demography
_/_
According to the National Geographic magazine (July
1982), the population of the Ivory Coast is 8,262,000,
including 2,500,000 immigrant workers of which about 100,000
are Lebanese and Syrians and 50,000 are French.
The
Minister of Planning in 1975 estimated the natural growth of
the population to be three percent per annum, and
approximately 50 percent of the Ivory Coast citizens are
less than 20 years of age; the population is mainly rural.
The overall population density is about 20 persons per
square kilometer (about 8.70 per square mile).
In 1975,
over 70 ethnic groups lived in the country.
The population
can be divided into six main groups,
and a description
follows:
The Krou Group:
Their traditional homeland is the
forest of the midwest and southwest.
The Krou group
produces and consumes food such as rice, plantain and
selected roots.

---

3
The Mande Group:
This group has settled in
relatively large regions in the North and Northwest.
The
main farming enterprises of this group are corn, millet and
rice.
The Senoufo Group:
They occupy the North central
part of the country.
It is a hard working farming group.
They devote themselves primarily to such agricultural
activities as rice, corn, sorghum and yam farming.
The Akan Group:
This group consists of the Baoule
and Agni who have occupied the eastern half of the country
for the past century.
Today, the group has become fairly
dispersed through the central part of the country (around
Bouake, Yamoussoukro, Oimbokro, etc.).
Traditionally
farmers,
their food consists largely of yam, taro and
plantain.
The Lobi and Koulango People:
The Lohi consist of a
relatively small cluster of people inhabiting the sparsely
populated Northeastern corner of the country.
The Koulango,
a neighboring group, form a much larger group.
Food crop
production
(sorghum and yam) for consumption and income
earning purposes is the primary agricultural enterprise of
both groups.

---

4
The Non-indiaenous Group:
About one-third of the
population of the Ivory Coast consist of non-Ivorians.
The
largest group are the Mossi-bobo, largely from Upper-Volta.
A large proportion of the more than 150,000 non-African
residents of the Ivory Coast are French Nationals
(50,000)
among whom are businessmen, government and industry
advisors, medical doctors and instructors in high schools,
--
colleges and universities.
Other non-Africans are
Lebano-Syrians whose activities are mainly in the commercial
sector.
The Rural Pooulation
From 75 to 80 percent of the population of the Ivory
Coast is illiterate.
However, a great effort is being made
to send children to school, and about 77 percent of the
school-age. children now attend elementary school.
For some
years, T.V. has been used as a teaching medium in certain
areas of the country.
All of the teaching in elementary
schools is done by Ivorians.
At the high school level,
about half of the teachers are French Nationals.
The Ivory
Coast has a university and more than 8,000 students are
registered.
A major proportion of the population is
involved in agricultural activities or farming, and
livestock production is becoming a new activity, especially

---

5
in the North regions.
It is important to note that there
are two kinds of farmers:
those who work under SODE
(Development Agency) supervision and those who are typical
traditional farmers.
The farmers under SODE supervision
usually are the ones who grow cash crops such as coffee,
cocoa, and cotton, while the traditional farmers grow
subsistence crops sy~h as yam, sorghum, maize and cassava.
The government usually buys the cash crops from the farmers,
while the subsistence crops are mainly for local
consumption.
Geography and Climate
The frontiers of the Ivory Coast were defined by the
former French colonial administration in 1904, with an area
of 322,500 square km (124,500 square miles), about the size
of the state of New Mexico, Italy or Japan (see Figure 1).
The Ivory Coast is bordered by Ghana on the east, Upper
Vo1ta and Mali on the North and Liberia nd Guinea in the
west and the Atlantic Ocean to the south.
The Ivory Coast
territory represents about one percent of the African
continent.
It is divided into three climatic zones as
follows:
(a)
The subequatorial climate in the Coastal region
is characterized by temperatures of 21 degrees Celsius to 33

---

\\
6
. Figure 1-
Map of the Ivory Coast
MAL,
>'JPPER Vo TA
(,.
U
I
~ \\'o~KOao
feR\\<ESSt:
I)ou
N
,"OIA
..../
t
R
SE G..u.Lf\\
BOU.A-~E
A
N
L .--.........
.
r
I
B
E
R
1
~
o
So
lbo 'I~o,oo~.ooo

---

7
degrees Celsius,
(70 degrees Fahrenheit and 90 degrees
Fahrenheit), with high humidity (between 80 percent and 90
percent); the rainfall in certain areas reaches 2,500
millimeters per year
(100 inches).
(b)
The tropical humid zone, where the temperature
varies between 14 degrees Celsius and 39 degrees Celsius.
Humidity remains around 70 percent and the rainfall ranges
~-
from 1,000 to 2,000 rni11irneters (40 to 80 inches).
(c)
The Sudanian climatic zone with two distinctive
seasons, wet
(from July to November) and dry
(from December
to June).
From south to the north, the humidity decreases and
that is one of the reasons the North ~s the region of
livestock production.
It is more' suitable for livestock
production, especially bovines.
Agriculture
The Ivory Coast is a world leader in the production
of cocoa, coffee and palm oil.
Timber, pineapples, bananas
and cotton are also produced commercially.
The Ivory Coast
economy is based almost entirely on agriculture.
"Discussing agricultural development in the Ivory Coast
is like discussing total development," according to the
former minister of agriculture, summarizing the agricultural

---

8
vocation of the country, where four out of five inhabitants
are still peasant farmers.
The main cash crops are coffee
and cocoa (1978, p.
529).
One Ivorian out of two is
dependent on coffee and cocoa for his livelihood.
Coffee
production has increased each year.
Today, the Ivory Coast
is the third largest producer of coffee in the world.
It is
surpassed only by Brazil and Colombia.
The Robusta species
is most cultivated in the Ivory Coast.
Most of the coffee
is produced by families in small village-type plantations of
one to two hectares (2.47 to 4.9 acres).
The Ivory Coast is
the largest producer of cocoa in the world and more than
650,000 persons are involved in cocoa activities.
Coffee
and cocoa are the main sources of income, but the
traditional farmer grows other crops (such as yam, maize and
rice)
for subsistence.
In the North, the Senoufo practice polyculture,
growing maize, millet, yam,
sorghum and rice, both dry and
wet.
In the Northeast, the Dioula grow maize as the
dominant crop, while the Lobi and the Koulango specialize in
yam and millet culture.
In the central part, yam is the
basic food of subsistence of the Baou1e tribes.
They also
grow maize,
rice and cassava.
In the East, the Akan group's
main subsistence crops are plantain, banana and taro;
in the

---

9
West and Southwest, rice and cassava are cultivated by the
Krou group.
Livestock Production
Ivory Coast livestock production is one of the
weakest in all of West Africa.
Meat and dairy products are
far from meeting the needs of the Ivory Coast's gr~ing
population.
Many reasons are behind this weakness;
ecological conditions, lack of motivation of Ivorians and
lack of adequate infrastructure.
There are two types of
livestock producers:
sedentary (cattle in one location) and
nomadic (moving to new pasturage; range type).
The first
type concerns mainly the non-Zebu cattle.
The own~rs of
those cattle are usually wealthy agriculturists and
businessmen; livestock is an investment for them and/or a
sign of social rank.
These persons normally hire someone to
guard the animals for them.
Usually these people are
members of the Peul tribe and frequently they keep animals
for several people at a time.
The animals are kept near the
village.
Their wages are a function of the number of head
that they keep.
They also have the right to milk the cows
and use the milk.
The second type (nomadic)
is also
practiced by Peul tribesmen from Mali and Upper-Volta and
generally they raise zebu cattle as well as crossbreeds,
moving the animals to the best available pasturage.

---

10
The non-Zebu type cattle include the Baoule, N'Dama
and Lagunaire.
In 1978, they composed about 70 percent of
the total,
numbering about 375,000 head.
The Baoule breed
is the largest in numbers, comprising about 60 percent of
total head.
The adult weight of the Baoule is about 200 to
300 kg
(440 lbs.
to 660 lbs.).
This breed is raised in the
North, Central, West, and in the extreme Eastern parts of
the country.
The Lagunaire breed represents about one
percent of the total and the adult weight is about 120-175
~".
kg
(264 to 385 lbs.).
The N'Dama breed repr~·'~etAts'a.bout 15
'::}'/.. --"'</~..\\
percent of the total and the adult weight is! from 22'0":':350 kg
: '---~~:~ . ') \\ ;:)~
(484 lbs. to 770 lbs.) and they can sometime re.;:ch----4,s10.;;:ka
I
" 11 ~
./ "'il
(990lbs.).
This breed is raised mainly in the Noi'th~est.
./
The Zebu cattle from Mali and Upper Volta numbered
about 160,000 head in 1977, approximately 30 percent of the
total.
The adult weight can reach 500 kg and over (1,210
lbs.); however,
they are less resistant to Trypanosomiasis,
compared with non-Zebu cattle.
Despite the effort made by
the government to increase meat production, the Ivory Coast
has had to import about 60 percent of the meat and about 95
percent of the dairy products that are consumed.

---

11
THE PROBLEM
This study was designed to provide answers to the
following questions:
What are some of the factors that
retard the development of livestock production in the
country?
What can be suggested or proposed to improve
livestock production and make i t as successful as other
facets of ~rlcultural development of the Ivory Coast?
The major dependent variable proposed for this
study, participation in programs of SODEPRA by livestock
producers,
includes participation in such things as
involvement in SODEPRA decision making, direct involvement
in the SODEPRA's extension projects and acceptance of ideas
and practices from SODEPRA's agents.
For this study data on
the dependent variable was derived from the annual reports
and from interviews with key personnel of SODEPRA.
The independent variables selected for the study
consisted of the following:
Demographic characteristics:
The variables included
in this general grouping were ethnic group,
religion, family
size,
level of education, number of wives, and type of
livestock production <sedentary versus nomadic).
Production units (number of animals raised, breeds
of cattle, feeding practices, average weight of the cattle;.

---

12
Marketing
(price/unit of marketing,
place of
marketing) .
Significance of the Study
The primary purpose of creating organizations such
as SODEPRA and research institutes such as CRZ is basically
to improve the socio-economic well-being of the rural
populace.
Most of the SODE Rrograms are essentially
extension-type activities which are initiated by the various
SODE change agencies.
Since the ultimate objective of
extension has been philosophically accepted as the
development of people so that they are capable of helping
themselves, and since the Ivory Coast government has the
same objective f6r the rural population,
the SODE programs
have required the involvement and the acceptance of these
programs by the rural population.
The involvement of the
rural population is crucial for the success of the SODE
programs.
Protein deficiency is a well known problem in
developing countries and livestock production can be the key
in overcoming i t for certain countries like the Ivory Coast.
The Ivory Coast government,
international organizations such
as FAO and foreign governments such as Belgium and Germany
have financed projects to find adapted breeds and new
forages to increase livestock productivD in West Africa in

---

13
general and in the Ivory Coast in particular.
Results
obtained in Madagascar and other African countries have
proven that Zebu cattle and native stock,
if adequately fed,
give excellent financial returns.
It is important to
recognize the significance of this study.
Hopefully, the
findings may shed some light as to some of the reasons why
livestock production in the Ivory Coast i.§--very insufficient
as well as to provide some useful directions for the
improvement of livestock production.
DEFINITION OF TERMS
Baoule:
Local livestock (cattle) breed tolerant to
local diseases,
440 to 660'~bs. adult weight.
CFA Franc:
National currency.
The ratio of one CFA
to U.S.
$1.00 was 256.25, according to United Nations
Monthly Bulletin of Statistics, Vol.
29, No.
1 (January
1975).
CRZ:
(Centre de Recherche Zootechnique)
research
institution for animal production.
F.A.O. :
Food and Agriculture Organization of the
United Nations.
Ivorian:
Ivory Coast citizen.

---

14
Laqunaire:
Small size local cattle breed, 264 to
385 lbs. adult weight.
N'Dama:
Local livestock breed (cattle) adapted to
local conditions and tolerant to Trypanosomias, 484 to 770
lbs. adult weight.
SODE:
(Societe de Developpement) Ivory Coast
government institutions created to promote agricultur~l/~nd
livestock production.
SODEPRA:
(Societe de Developpement pour la
Production Animale)
institution in charge of livestock
production.

---

Chapter 11
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
In this chapter a summary of relevant theory and
literature is presented.
The topics covered are
agricultural development, research and extension, and
livestock production in Africa.
Agricultural Development in Africa
Traditional agriculture in African countries is most
often of the primitive type.
The yields per hectare or
other unit and productivity from human effort are low.
It
is generally admitted that agricultural production is
insufficient to provide a satisfactory protein intake for
the population when one considers the low availability of
animal foods.
Steps for agricultural development must be
taken in different areas, keeping in mind that only a
comprehensive improvement of the agricultural system will
bring change in African agriculture.
The need for
agricultural development is primordial in developing
countries where the rural population is still struggling
with subsistence crops.
Mosher
(1966)
identifies essential
elements for agricultural development.
He lists two of
15

---

16
these as a constantly changing technology and local
availability of supplies and equipment.
He also lists as
"accelerators" education for development, production credit,
group action by farmers,
improving and expanding
agricultural land, and national planning.
There are
different interpretations about the importance of the
different factors, but i t is clear that success in planning
for agricultural development lies in the strengthening of
each of the individual components involved in setting the
priorities for agricultural research projects for developing
countries.
In most cases,
the main objectives of government
development policy are to increase rural productivity and
income and to diversify the rural economy, generally
enhancing the quality of life in rural areas.
Since
agriculture is the predominant form of activity in rural
areas the most important instruments for achieving these
objectives have been agricultural programs.
Uyanga
(1976)
remarks that because of the inextricable relationship
between agricultural development and infrastructural
development,
the importance of agriculture in the general
scheme of rural development is basic, particularly since a
large proportion of the population in West Africa is
directly affected by policies aimed at developing

---

17
agriculture.
The development of agricultural programs can
be considered as a major aspect of rural development
planning.
For many years it was assumed that the
agricultural needs of the developing countries could be
solved by a direct transfer of modern technology from
elsewhere.
Fortunately, this misconception is becoming less
~~tdely held and research in the tropical areas is being
considered with more realism.
Jain (1967) described Africa as one of
the underdeveloped areas of the world where mass poverty is
still a common feature.
About three quarters of the people
of all the African nations are engaged in agriculture on a
small-scale basis.
The greater part of the African
population lives within the framework of traditional economy.
Subsistence agriculture is the main occupation of the people
In view of this,
the transfer of modern technology cannot
be the solution of African development.
The basis of
economic development in most parts of Africa has to be the
change of traditional economy into a modern economy.
After independence, African nations marched ahead
with their plans of economic development to achieve these
objectives.
Some are well along that road,
and some are
floundering, wuile others are just beginning.
It is

---

18
important to examine some nations separately to understand
the process of agricultural development of different nations.
In Tunisia, despite a powerful migratory movement toward the
cities, nearly three-quarters of the Tunisian population
continue to depend directly on agricultu~e for their
livelihood.
In the case of Tunisia (Jain, 1967), one of the
main criteria that has to be taken into consideration while
planning for agricultural development is the climatic
condition.
The rainfall is both insufficient and unevenly
distributed.
Jain's (1967) findings show that the average
annual rainfall diminishes as one moves s~uthward.
In the
north, one quarter of the country has an average annual
rainfall of 17.5 inches, and this is favorable to "dry
farming," e.g., cereals--wheat, barley and pasture.
In the
central part of Tunisia (apart from the Sahel, a hilly area
exposed to the Northeast) the average rainfall is low and
"dry farming"
is suitable only for olive trees and for
certain types of fruit trees
(almonds and apricots,
in
particular).
These averages demonstrat~ the varying
rainfall conditions in Tunisia.
Therefore, the importance
of planned hydraulic works for agricultural development
should not be underestimated.
The seco~d problem for
Tunisia in agriculture is created by the fact that the

---

19
farmers have insufficient financial credits available to
them.
There are on the average two agricultural technicians
in a given area, one engineer for 54,800 Hectares and one
demonstrator for 19,500 Hectares.
Jain (1967)
states that
for agricultural development to be successful in Tunisia, it
must be based on the above local conditions.
It seems that
in Tunisia, agriculture ca~_be improved on a small scale in
view of the large numbers of farmers,
the small size of
their holdings and their limited technical and financial
means.
A collective organization can bring about a decisive
and irreversible renewal of agriculture with a view to
bringing it into complete symbiosis with the other sectors
of the national economy.
In the agricultural sector,
cooperation corresponds most closely with the collective
form of organization desired.
Livestock breeding is an old
tradition in Tunisia farm activity; i t provided the means of
subsistence for the population, according to Jain (1967).
Livestock breeding is deeply rooted in Tunisian
soil; its origins go back to the far distant past.
It
provided the means of subsistence for the great nomadic
tribes; to them, it was the only conceivable use for the
enormous tracts of uncultivated land.
Up to this very day,
this outworn cancept has prevailed.
The modern concept of

---

20
agriculture, however,
necessitated a deep change in the
attitude toward livestock.
No longer are unguarded herds to
be allowed to roam over uncultivated land.
For agricultural
development purposes,
the land must be used to produce a
maximum amount of vegetable matter by crop cUltivation.
Livestock producers may, then, only use this vegetable
matter to produce meat or milk to nourish the people of
~
Tunisia and provide exports.
The Tunisian government
proposed a ten year agricultural development program to
increase agricultural production.
It seems interesting to
notice that some of their development accelerators were:
(1)
reform of agricultural structures;
(2) reconstitution of
soil fertility
(conservationi_ferti1izers, etc.);
(3)
training of personnel;
(4) diversification and
specialization of crops; and
(5) development of
mechanization.
The above accelerators seem to be important
in any developing nation for the agricultural development to
take place.
Ethiopia seems to be a good example of agricultural
development of African nations
(Jain, 1967).
Few countries
in the world possess such a natural environment for
agricultural development as Ethiopia.
The great variety of
climatic conditions associated with immense variations in

---

21
topography permit the growing of almost all temperate and
tropical zone crops.
The constant grass coverage throughout
the year of the highlands provide one of the best
environments in Africa for the development of livestock.
Ethiopia possesses one of the largest livestock populations
in Africa.
For agricultural development to take place, i t
is vital that the people should want this progress and,
~--
therefore, they should be associated as much as possible
with agricultural development planning.
It is also
important that the plan be widely publicized.
In order to
do so, the development plan should be circularized in detail
in order to acquaint the people with its purpose (Jain
(1967).
In the case of Ethiopia, i t is necessary to
emphasize that the effective implementation of the
agricultural development plan is dependent on institutional
improvements and changes in administration, economic policy
and agrarian reform.
Without coordinated improvement in
these other spheres, agricultural progress will be seriously
handicapped.
The Ivory Coast is principally an agricultural
country, producing the main important cash crops like
coffee, cocoa and palm nuts.
The agricultural development

---

22
plan recognizes the importance of diversification of
agriculture and the disadvantages of the country's
dependence on one or two crops.
Hence, a phased program is
being implemented for the growing of different crops such as
cotton,
sugarcane, fruit and vegetables.
These crops have
great potentials for growth in the country.
As such their
widespread growth will not only reduce the imports of these
items in raw or processed forms, but also will free up
valuable foreign exchange funds which could otherwise be
used for obtaining more important industrial and capital
goods to further develop the infrastructure base of the
country.
The Ivory Coast government created the different
SODE organizations as instruments of development and mcst of
them are backed by research institutions.
In livestock
work,
for example, SODEPRA is backed by CRZ.
The government
understood the importance of diversification in agricultural
development and that is one of the main objectives of the
development plan of the Ivory Coast.
Agricultural
development is critical for developing countries where
agricultural production is the key for development.
The
world food conference held in November, 1974,
in Rome gave
emphasis to both the crisis now existing in the famine areas
and the dire need for a planned husbandry of the world's

---

23
finite resources if we are to cope with the growing
population.
Developing countries such as those in Africa,
along with India, seem to be the place where the rate of
population increase is one of the highest.
In addition to
that factor, physical environment also contributes to limit
agricultural development.
Man is at a disadvantage in the tropics and
subtropics.
The steady high temperatures, humidity and
rainfall rates, together with the concomitant erosion and
high oxidation levels, constitute a major deterrent to
progress.
The working capacity of people is lessened, and
the tropical environment is conducive to all kinds of
parasites, diseases and viruses.
In the agricultural
production area, weeds,
insects and fungi are major problem
areas.
In short, the tropical environment is a hostile one
in many ways, and man must learn to deal with i t in order to
progress.
Research and Extension
Research is an important component in agricultural
development, but the problem of conducting research in
developing countries is aggravated by the diffusion gap
between research institutes and the farmers,
and especially
the language ~urrier.
In this connection, deWilde <1967, p.
176) says:

---

24
Agricultural research must be largely oriented
to the requirements of the small-family farm which is
characteristic of African agriculture.
Research should
not be understood simply as the technical and scientific
work carried out on agricultural experiment stations.
It must be more broadly conceived as including all types
of studies and investigations that produce innovations
which farmers will consider feasible and rewarding.
It
must be concerned with all the factors,
socio-economic
as well as technical, which condition the receptivity
to change at the farm level.
On agricultural stations research must depart from
a knowledge of the farmer's whole farming pattern and
of the rationale of prevailing methods of cropping and
animal husbandry.
Single innovations which appear worth-
while by themselves may become unprofitable or impracti-
cal when their repercussions on the entire farm are
taken into account.
deWilde (1967, p. 177> points out further that there can be
be a trap if research programs focus solely on increasing
production.
He says:
Research should not be concerned exclusively with
increasing the yield of crops or livestock per unit of
area.
It should recognize that most farmer~ in Africa,
particularly those in the savannah areas, consider labor
their principal constraint and are therefore primarily
interested in maximizing their returns to labor rather
than to land.
It is important therefore to devote more
study to the labor implications of possible agricultural
improvements--to determine how the farm family uses its
available labor resources over the entire season and
where the bottlenecks are: and to estimate to what ex-
tent and when a proposed innovation is likely to require
additional labor.
There is some difficulty in defining ~esearch.
Too
often, young African scientists, trained in the traditions
of research in the Western countries,
r.eturn home and want

---

25
to do the more basic research they encountered.
Discussing
the problem of definition and its implications, French
(1967, p. 17) says:
It can refer to investigations in depth into the
pure or fundamental nature of things, but because such
research cannot be guaranteed to yield results of com-
mercial importance, i t is rarely undertaken in developing
countries with restricted finances and a shortage of
qua1i~led personnel.
For such countries, applied re-
search is a more realistic possibility but, again,
there
must be a clear distinction between the application of
basic principles, for the clarification of unresolved
situations on the one hand,
to studies mounted on the
other hand, to determine which of several of such re-
solved circumstances would be most economic or suitable
within a given environment.
It is the last two types,
and often only the last kind of "research" that is en-
visaged in this discussion.
Consequently, progress in
animal production in developing countries will depend
less on fortunate discoveries than on the results de-
rived from a methodical use ofa disciplined examina-
tion of the causes and their effects.
Information resulting from research institutes could
contribute to the improvement of agricultural development in
a lot of developing countries such as the Ivory Coast.
Beforehand, however,
this information would have to be
reduced to a simple language that the non-educated farmers
and livestock producers would understand.
In the early
stages of its development, the Ivory Coast government
understood the role of research in its agricultural
development and livestock production.
Many research

---

26
stations have therefore been established such as The
Institute Francais de Cafe et Cacao (IFCC), a French
institute for coffee and cocoa, and CRZ,
the Livestock
production Research Institute.
The research institutes
conduct research and, undoubtedly,
the resulting information
would be more than welcome by the needy growers and
. livestock producers.
Unfort~nately, the research
information is restricted to a limited population since i t
is published in French, and only 20 percent of the
ethnically diversified Ivory Coast population, in general,
is literate: farmers,
in particular, are almost 100 percent
illiterate.
This state of illiteracy creates a
communications-problem between the research institute and
the farmers.
The problems related to diffusion of research
are well known, presenting a challenge to development
workers.
The availability of research information to farmers
in the U.5.
has its genesis in the Hatch Act (1887) which,
as 5cott (1970, p. 138) puts it,
"specifically directed that
the results of experiment station research be made available
to farmers."
The same author does point out, h~wever, that
almost from the outset agricultural colleges had attempted
to reach farmers through the distribution of bulletins.

---

27
Bulletins and publications, among other means, play an
important role in the diffusion of research station
information in the D.S. Extension Service.
Scott (1970,
p.
139) remarks that:
The inability of farmers to understand the material
presented in ordinary station bulletins raised other
problems.
Some station personnel concluded that two
sets of bulletins were needed.
One should be highly
technical, describing the processes aQd methods of
given experiments and useful prima~-ly to other re-
searchers.
A second set, issued especially for farmers,
should summarize the results of experiments in language
that the ordinary farmer could understand and should
suggest how those new ideas might be utilized in actual
practice.
Such bulletins should be designed to arouse
interest and they should be brief.
The above remarks point out that even in the D.S. where the
farmer's level of education is high compared with the
-
illiterate farmer of the Ivory Coast, the research language
is too difficult and must be reduced to the level of farmers.
It is also important that i t be adapted to local conditions
and to a specific region.
Radio, according to Kelsey ~ Hearne (1957, p.
249),
is another information tool in the D.S.A.;
"It can reach
large numbers of people at any time.
About four out of five
American farm families have radio sets."
Not less influential is also, according to Kelsey
and Hearne
(1957,
p.
264), T.V.:

---

28
properly used, educational T.V. may be expected to
impart facts and demonstrate procedures at least as
efficiently as an average classroom teacher, perhaps as
effectively as an excellent teacher.
Subject matter specialists can use T.V. as a tool
for diffusing a given new practice or a skill to a wide
audience of farmers.
Method demonstrations, result demonstrations, color
slides, photography,
illustrations, etc., are also ~sed in
the U.S. Extension Service for diffusing research station
information or for teaching farmers the "How" from research
station information.
If the Hatch Act of 1887 did provide federal
financial assistance to states for the establishment of
Agricultural Experiment Stations, i t was, however, the
Smith-Lever Act of 1914 which laid the foundation upon which
the U.S.
system of cooperative extension work was built.
The amended Smith-Lever Act stipulates that:
In order to aid in diffusing among the people of
the United States useful and practical information on
subjects relating to agriculture and home economics
and to encourage the application of the same, there
may be continued or inaugurated in connection with the
college or colleges in each state, territory or posses-
sion,
now receiving, or which may hereafter receive, the
benefits of the Morrill Land Grant College Act of 1862
and by the Morrill College endowment Act of 1890, Agri-
cultural Extension work which shall be carried on in
cooperation with the United States Department of Agri-
culture ...• Cooperative agricultural extension work shall
consist of the giving of instruction and practical demon-

---

29
stration in agriculture and home economics and subjects
relating thereto persons not attending or resident in
said colleges in the several communities, and imparting
information on said sUbjects through demonstrations,
publications, and otherwise information in connection
with the foregoing; and this work shall be carried in
such manner as may be mutually agreed upon the Secretary
of Agriculture and the State agricultural college or
colleges receiving the benefit of the Act.
Central to the Hatch Act and to the Smith-Lever Act
is the theme that information from research stations should
be made available to farmers.
However,
farmers'
level of
education is,
in general, not as high as that of researchers.
Research language is too scientific and too technical for
farmers'
level of understanding, hence the need to reduce
the barriers between researchers and farmers.
In the United
States, the Agricultural Extension Service is the instrument
for such a reduction.
Because the university is where
research properly belongs,
i t therefore fits naturally that
the Agricultural Extension Service be also connected to the
same organization structure, a very crucial arrangement in
the D.S.
picture.
Schematically the linkage between the research
station and the farmer reads as follows:
EXTENSION
RESEARCH STATION E-----7 SERVICE
~ FARMERS
In the D.S.,
the linkage between researcher and farmer is

---

30
made possible by the dual roles played by the Subject Matter
Specialist and the County Agent.
The Subject Matter Specialist is usually devoted to
the task of keeping in touch with the research workers and
aiding the latter to relate to the problems as they exist in
the field.
Because he is an expert,
the Subject Matter
Specialist can interpret, according to field conditions, the
findings of the Experiment Station for farm people.
As a
corollary, he can also bring problems from the field to the
experiment station for consideration.
He is the one who can
best reduce the research findings to the level of farmers'
understanding.
Tools such as slides, photographs, pamphlets
and demonstration work are generally used for such a
translation.
The actual contact with farmers is made, however, by
the County Agent.
The Subject Matter Specialist simplifies
the research information so that the County Agent can use i t
and bring i t directly to the farmers.
He spends a great
deal of his time training County Agents in the understanding
and application of new technology to the farmer's situation.
The County Agent, on the other hand, understands well the
problems of the farmer in this local situation.
According
to Sanders (1970, p.
38),
"The Agent's task, as a teacher

---

31
and advisor,
is to relate the findings of research and
improved methods to the solution of problems on the
farm ...• "
Castillo
(1975, p.
97) says that "agricultural
modernization depends to a large extent on the introduction
of ingredients from the outside traditional world of the
farmer."
Included would be such items as new and improved
/ -
varieties of crops, better cultural practices for the
growing of crops, and new types of livestock.
Castillo
(1975, p.
97) contends that "agricultural extension is one
organizational device which has been set up to perform this
function."
She suggests that i t is a channel to bring these
outside factors into a frame of reference for
decision-making by the farmer.
Regardless of the
circumstance in which the farmer finds himself,
even if he
is illiterate and subsistence in his orientation, he is
still a decision-maker,
and his exposure to new technology
is one way to bring the alternatives to his consideration.
In discussing innovations, de Wilde (1967,
p.
177)
says:
Many innovations have not been accepted by the
farmer in the past because the nature and amount of in-
centives required to bring about their adoption have not
been adequately appreciated.
More socio-economic studies
are needed to throw light on all the factors conditioning
response to change in the societies of which farmers are

---

32
part.
These are important also for determining the best
way of organizing agricultural extension work in various
societies.
Particularly when we are dealing with situ-
ations where there has as yet been little change we must
be sure to study in advance such relevant social factors
as the kinship organization and the associated network of
obligations, the identity of the people who wield autho-
rity and those who may be potential leaders in effecting
change,
the system of land tenure and inheritance, the
degree of exposure of the society to stimulating outside
contacts through labor migration, trade and education,
and others of this type.
Sociological investigations
should, of course, not be content to describe a society
at anyone point of_time but should rather single out
and assess both the factors which are making for change
and those which still tend to impede progress.
A great deal of research has been done on the
effectiveness of extension work.
In reviewing some of this
work, Rogers and Shoemaker (1972) describe people such as
extension workers as change agents.
They outline seven
roles to'be played as follows:
1.
develop a need for change
2.
establish a change relationship
3.
diagnose the problem
4.
create intent to change in the client
5.
translate intent into action
6.
stabilize change and prevents discontinuance
7.
achieve a terminal relationship
They further suggest that the credability of the change
agent is an important factor in the development of an
effective change relationship with farmers.
This means that

---

33
the extension agent must be perceived as a reliable,
trustworthy person by the farmer.
Rogers and Shoemaker (1972,
p.
243) further suggest
that "change agent success is positively related to the
extent that he works through opinion leaders."
They define
opinion leaders as persons who can influence other people to
look favorably on the idea the change agent is expressing.
/ -
In the African situation, this would relate especially to
the traditional village leadership structure and the degree
to which they support the efforts of the extension agent.
Livestock Production in Africa
Enormous variation is present among livestock in
Africa.
Conditions are extremely varied, ranging from
extremely wet to extremely dry, and no one breed or animal
meets all conditions satisfactorily (French,
1967).
Livestock farming systems vary from the nomadic to intensive
peri-urban, and all levels in between, and a variety of
productive levels and marketing systems are required.
Unfortunately, for much of Africa, funds for the improvement
in livestock production are often non-existent.
Examining the need for research to assess the
potential of African Livestock, M. H. French, Chief of the
Animal Production Branch of FAO,
summ~~izes it as follows
(1967, p. 16):

---

34
Traditional emphasis on survival ability instead
of on productivity still exists in extensive regions and
only when a relatively safe hearth situation has been
created are nutritional, management and genetic improve-
ments justified.
The varying nutritional levels have
induced considerable heterogeneity in external charac-
teristics with a wide range in productivity.
Attempts to
improve populations through artificial insemination must
be linked with performance testing.
Properly trained staff is the key to future animal
production and research activities.
The latter will be
associated with superior sire identifications, feed con-
servation, balanced rationing and measurements of per/--
formance for varying management systems.
There is no
need for emphasis on breed purity but on productivity.
Steers from certain dairy breeds can produce valuable
beef.
Desirable genetic resources should be conserved
but new breed formation efforts should be on a suf-
ficiently large scale.
Fodder conservational research
and the possible distribution of grains to selected
stock need investigation.
Commenting further on the situation, French goes on to ex-
plain the complexity and the problems involved in trying to
change an age-old system, replete with many problems.
He
says
(1967, p. 16):
Herd structures should be examined and altered,
water supplies developed and the place of livestock in
different vegetative communities should be studied.
Land tenure situations need examination alongside
studies to settle transhumant populations.
Management
philosophies must be assessed, tsetse problems resolved
and there is a need for increasing animal products to
parallel demands from increasing populations.
,
Expenditure on research should be increased and its
ramifications should include housing, the cost/labor
situation,
investigations into nutritional deficiencies
and the means for correcting them.
Destocking recom-
mendations often need re-examination so as to be less
discriminating and to be more generally applicable.

---

35
Tradition dies hard.
Large animal production in
Africa is still highly traditional, and changing i t will re-
quire much effort.
French says (1967, p. 18):
Traditional practices often need changing to hasten
augmentations in productivities.
In developed zones,
improvement of animal quality is the challenge whereas,
in developing areas, i t is the production of animal pro-
ducts which is of paramount importance.
Too often in
Africa sustained and economical production is jeopar-
dized by the shortage and unreliability of rain.
Pro-
longed droughts force survival at subsistence levels,
whilst the communal use of grazing land discourages any
animal improvement or the conservation of herbage.
There
is no balancing of stock numbers against the quantity of
grazing available and, ultimately, the vegetable cover
becomes degenerated.
Unfortunately, animal production is
often regarded as too prosaic to merit expenditures on
research and development.
consequently, changes in ex-
tensive areas occur so insidiously that they may be ap-
preciated only in retrospect.
With progressive intensi-
fication,
changes are copied from more technologically
developed countries and sometimes without regard to the
different climatic, cultural and economic circumstances
which are involved ..••
Against the background of hard environmental con-
ditions, so frequently accompanied by large annual and
irregular, but devastatingly large, livestock losses i t
was natural for an accumulation of stock numbers, irre-
spective of quality, to be built up, as the only in-
surance policy within the grasp of the people.
Live-
stock survival ability was then a more dominating factor
than productive ability.
This tendency still persists
and only where a market provides the necessary incentive
are better livestock introduced.
Animal production aims in Africa thus segregate
sharply into efforts (a)
to stimulate highly productive
animals in artificial circumstances and (b) to amelio-
rate the hardships of stock in extensive 2ones.
Far too
frequently the enthusiasm for breed improvement from the
former gets carried over into the latter, with the conse-
quent failures that have been widely encountered.

---

36
The animal health situation in Africa is precarious.
For improvements to be made in livestock production, the
basic health situation for animals must be improved.
French
(1967,
p. 19) comments:
... otherwise the animals may be destroyed by disease
or, if they survive, may be so susceptible to local para-
sitic attacks that they live in a sup-optimal productive
state.
Only when a relatively safe disease position has
been created are improvements justified in nutrition,
management and genetics.
Just as i t is unwise to engage
in animal production where disease is uncontrolled, so i t
is equally unprofitable to save animals from disease so
that their numbers become so excessive that ultimately
many die from starvation.
Animal production activities must be established to
follow and take advantage of disease control achievements
but, because past emphases were so focused on securing
this control, many countries lack the necessary numbers
of trained animal husbandrymen to take advantage of and
to exploit the safer conditions being introduced by
veterinarians.
Trypanosomiasis is a basic health problem in West
Africa.
It is spread by the tse-tse fly.
There are also
certain bacterial diseases that cause problems,
including
contagious Bovine pleuropneumonia, Streptothricosis and
Bovine Nocardiosis.
Each is a serious problem, but the
problem of trypanosomiasis overshadows the others.
French
(1976,
p.
23) says:
In one problem, however, Africa cannot draw on
experiences in tne more developed countries.
This
refers to the scourage of trypanosmiasis spread by

---

37
tsetse flies.
For the mitigation of this problem,
considerable research activities are required.
It
can be argued that the fly prevents the exploitation
and ruin of large areas, but the increasing need for
animal foods requires the proper use of all available
land.
Fly-infested country contains many areas which
could be of immense value for livestock investigations
into economical reclamation measures are which are not
only urgently needed but will eventually become
essential.
Michels (1967, p. 1> summarizes the problems of
live~tock improvement in Africa as follows:
1.
The animal in the tropical and sub-tropical
environment:
2.
Choice and selection of spec.ies and breeds
within a species:
3.
Production and marketing possibilities.
The study of the first point should concern the
direct and indirect influences of the various climates
found in Africa on the homiothermic animals, especially
ruminants.
The physiological antithesis between tolerance to
heat and milk-production ability among bovine breeds
originating from temperate zones shows how important
basic research is in the area of heat tolerance of
mammals and poultry to the climatic conditions preva-
lent in the various ecological zones of tropical and
sub-tropical regions.
Problems relating to the nutrition and health of
the animals show particularly how complex and varied are
the problems of the rational exploitation of grasslands.
Seasonal variations, for example, cause both quantitative
and qualitative problems.
These problems should get most
of our attention in the framework of experimental re-
search on the development of animal production in
Africa.
The second point of concern is with finding ani-

---

38
mals which will give the highest possible production
of animal protein per year and per hectare.
This type of research is involved in making com-
parisons of different species, but i t seems that
attention should be given first to the best species
that have already been domesticated, within the
framework of a given ecological region.
The second choice should be of the best breed within
a species.
This problem is inevitably linked up with
the selection and formation of this breed as a function
of an environment that will be increasingly improved
and controlled~t-justifiedeconomic means.
French (1967) stresses the need for adequate nutri-
tion after control of diseases has been accomplished.
It
is his belief that adequate nutrition will remain a basic
factor in livestock improvement for many years to come.
He
comments (French, 1967, p. 19):
Because of exposure to adverse conditions, over a
a long period of time, many indigenous stock exhibit
slow rates of development.
Growth, however, ma¥ be re-
sumed after periods of subsistence to a later age than
is possible with earlier maturing imported breeds.
Indigenous stock have developed in harmony with their
physiological, heat adaptive functions and the ambient
thermal stresses so that they can withstand greater
radiant solar energy uptakes than less adapted imported
stock.
In response to the varying nutritional levels and
the thermal stresses to which they have been exposed,
African livestock exhibit considerable heterogeneity
in external characters.
One has only to think of the
enormous variation between the small West African Short-
horn or N'Dama and the large Africander cattle to ap-
preciate this.
The same big difference in body size
exists between the dwarf and savannah goats in a number
of countries which again emphasizes the differences
which exist in the intrinsic ability to grow.
In the

---

39
same way, appreciable size variations, due to varying
nutritional levels are encountered in the same breed as,
for instance,
in the shorthorned zebu in the Masai and
Mbulu districts of Tanzania.
In a paper developed by IRAT (Tropical Agronomic
Research Institute),
they stress the importance of forage
crops in nutrition is stressed (1967, p.
68).
Their
institute's views are as follows:
Forage crops display sp~ial characteristics which
distinguish them from food or industrial crops and which
give them a special physiogomy; among these character-
istics, probably the most important one is the mode of
utilization which requires a transformer, livestock,
which supplies commercial products either directly from
meat obtained after slaughtering the animals or in-
directly as milk secreted by the animal.
Thus one can-
not discuss forage crops without also speaking of live-
stock production, especially in the first analysis of
the problem.
Forage crops are grown to be consumed
through grazing,pf the animals on pasture land or
through feeding them in stalls; a rational exploitation
system combines these two methods,
so that production
can be geared to consumption.
The excess crop gathered
at the rainy season harvest is kept and stored for use
during the dry season when there is a marked lack of
grazing.
In the traditional African and Madagascan
agricultural systems, growing plants for feeding live-
stock is practically unknown.
IRAT also highlights the need for the preservation
of soil fertility.
It has the following to say <1967,
p.
68):
A second aspect of the problem of forage crops
which is less immediate is the preservation of soil
fertility.
Under conditions of low or average mineral
fertilization which is generally the situation in
tropical climates, i t has been found that a period of
reconstitution is absolutely necessary for the fertility
1
[
Ir11
,
I
It·,R~

---

40
of the soil.
The concept of this fallow period is very
variable as to frequency, duration, use of the land,
climatic and economic conditions.
It is a concept that
for correcting soil deficiencies, forage crops have an
eminent place, as research has proven time and again
that these crops are very beneficial to the physical
structure and the chemical characteristics of soil.
utilizing the field planted in forage crops (that have
been repeatedly proven as so beneficial) for grazing
livestock make the "cure" profitable as well.
Thus we
are confronted with a third aspect of forage crop culti-
vation, which is in effect the synthesis of the other
two;
the integration of crop and livestock production.
Animal traction gives the farmer better control
over his land by making i t possible for him to dO-the
various tasks at the required times on the necessary
areas.
The presence of animals in farming also infers
the preparation of manure, which, when used correctly,
reconstitutes or at least maintains the level of organic
matter in the soil.
Then forage crops make i t possible
to feed the animals adequately and correctly.
Thus a
very articulate theoretical schema is arrived at and
an agricultural constraint can be turned into a produc-
tivity factor.
As a matter of fact,
this is a type of
farming which is still common in Europe and which was
even more universally seen there a half-century ago
before mechanization and the use of mineral fertilizers
were so widespread.
This system was practically non-
existent in Africa at the same time and very little of
i t exists today for various reasons.
In regard to the forage seasons, Michels (1967,
p. 5) outlines the drastic changes that occur between the
wet and dry seasons.
He says:
A problem that immediately faces the livestock pro-
ducer in savannah zones is that of seasons.
During the
hot and wet season the vegetation is ,luxuriant and
abundant but may rapidly lignify if not eaten at the
optimal vegetative stage.
During the dry season, the
vegetation is generally greatly reduced.
Under these conditions, what should be the optimum

---

41
stocking-rate per hectare?
How do the animals know how
to recuperate after a period of pronounced loss of
weight and how do they catch up with animals which
have been given supplements during the dry season?
In
what measure should we and can we improve the
vegetation?
Turning to the question of livestock breeds and to
breeding work, Miche1s addresses himself to the problem of
choices among domesticated species.
His viewpoints are as
follows
(Miche1s, 1967, p.
9):
Much of the research related above and mentioned
later shows that the domestic species have generally not
produced optimum phenotypica1 performances as a function
of their actual genotype in Africa.
The choice among the various domestic species is a
difficult problem to resolve in terms of the specula-
tions to be investigated and the need for perfecting
the environment.
For example, i t is not clear which species tra-
ditionally adapted to the c1imato10gica1 conditions in
Africa should be selected from each ecological region to
transform the savannahs, as economically as possible,
into meat-producing areas.
Goats are considered
generally too destructive but is this not a sign of
good transformation capacity we should study further
and guide towards rational exploitation?
Sheep have
certain advantages over the bovines:
they are easier
to manipulate, they mature earlier, they often reproduce
twice a year, twins are numerous.
Sheep therefore
generally need less costly equipment, their economic
return is more rapid, especially since investment can
be geared to the period of ascending growth.
Neverthe-
less, under our conditions, sheep show a greater sus-
ceptibility to disease, especially parasitic diseases
and food poisoning.
The domesticated buffaloes of Pakistan, imported
into the Congo by INEAC in 1965, show great possibili-
ties as dual-purpose animals.
They are docile,
they

---

42
weigh 600 to 700 kilograms as adults, they acclimatize
very well to the climate and f9dder conditions of the
Yangambi center ••••
We believe that research almlng at a rational
choice of the best species, taking into consideration
all the elements of the problem in an ecological region,
merits all our attention.
Discussing the question of breeds further,
Michels
suggests work also on the choice and selection of breeds
within a species.
His rationale follows
(Michels, 1976,
p.
9-10):
As we have already stated above,
i t is necessary
to produce animals capable of transforming the avail-
able fodder resources into as much net energy as
possible.
Can we attain this goal through selection,
basing our efforts on the hereditary variability exist-
ing between breeds and within breeds?
The following questions immediately come to mind.
Is there sufficient individual genotypical variability
within autochthonous breeds to direct that variability
toward a genotypical potential corresponding to the
phenotypical performances followed by man?
Or should
we look to exotic breeds to fulfill this goal, either
by absorption cross-breeding of the autochthonous
races or by cross-breeding followed by mixtures, in
order to create new breeds?
Or should we simply
radically replace the local breeds, of which some were
but recently imported, with other breeds considered
more productive?
Regarding cross-breeding trials, Michels recounted
the fact that they generally have been failures.
He
(Michels, 1967, p. 10) comments:
We have studied a great number of cross-breeding
trials conducted throughout the tropical and sub-
tropical regions between local or autochthonous bovine

---

43
races and exotic races.
In our opinion, these experiments were carried on
in an overly empirical manner in most cases; as the
desired end-product was success, the assumptions and
methods of experimentation were set up accordingly.
As a result,
the experiments generally terminated in
failure, with the exception of the following instances:
(1)
Absorption cross breeding (grading-up) in
a micro-climate resembling the climate of origin and
accompanied by environmental improvement, in order to
fulfill the nutritional and hygenic requirements of
the new breed.
This was the case for the "black-footed
cow" at the INEAC station in Nioka.
(2)
Cross-breeding, followed by a mixture of a
great number of individual breeds, until the optimum
formula was arrived at.
The case of Jersey-Zebu on the
Island of Jamaica in 1921 and 1952 can be cited as real
success-story as can the case of the Santa Gertrudis
breed in Texas.
In the Congo, we can cite the Mateba
breed, produced in the micro-environment of the Island
of Mateba.
Louisiana has also done a lot of crossbreeding work
experimenting with the European-Red Sindhi cross.
Michels, in further exploring the question of
cross-breeding, outlines his views on the procedures to be
used.
He suggests the manner to proceed in cross-breeding
of exotic breeds and local animals as follows
(Michels,
1967, p.
10):
I
(1)
Before proceeding to any cross-breeding,
research workers should study the aptitudes of the local
breeds (for heat tolerance,
transformation ability,
growth aptitudes,
reproduction,
lactation, hardiness,
resistance,
longevity, etc.) and test them in an environ-
ment constantly improved and controlled in an eco-
nomically justifiable manner.
The degree to which
rational selection based on classical methods can lead
us to the desired results should also be investigated.

---

44
(2)
Before proceeding to grading-up of the local
breed with an exotic breed, the two breeds must be com-
pared in the local environment and under identical con-
ditions for several generations, which, for the bovine
breeds, means for fifteen to twenty years.
(3)
Before proceeding to cross-breeding and
mixtures for creating a new race, experimenters should
examine the possibilities of a large number of each race
at difference levels of breeding; in this way the sta-
tistical methods of population genetics may be applied,
and the experimenter may deduce, may make a
judicious
choic~~{rom a group with a sufficiently large genotypi-
cal potential, the optimum combined genotypes; for
example, the characteristics of indigenous hardiness with
exotic productivity.
Summarizing the solution of the problems of im-
proving livestock production in Africa, French
(1967, p.
20)
has this to say:
Basic research is as creative as art but the domi-
nating need, even in developed countries,
is for the
application of knowledge.
In developing countries, the
need is more often for a person to sol~e problems.
Hence the need is for educational systems which offer
the improved technical knowledge that is required to
break the vicious complex derived from a combination of
ignorance, poverty and a non-critical reliance on tra-
ditional practices.
The key to development and future
research is a properly trained staff, comprising a
nucleus of teachers,
research workers, extensionists
and facilities for training people, from the short-
course instructions at the farm level to the post-
graduate university standard.
The research needed may be very varied from the
detection of superior sires, to the methods for the con-
servation of balancing of feeds,
the use of dung and
other fertilizers for increasing farm productivity, the
determination of which breeds or crossbreeds are best
suited for milk, meat or work production, the assessment
of consumer needs and the determination of suitable

---

45
marketing and holding systems.
Further investigations
will be needed to determine the best husbandry methods
to secure optimal financial returns and to achieve
desirable means for apprising livestock producers of
ruling price structures and so free them of the present
grip of middlemen and butchers.

---

Chapter III
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
The ov~rall objective of this study was to gather
basic information about livestock programs in the Ivory
Coast, and to determine factors that may be impeding the
/ -
successful accomplishment of these programs.
The following
specific objectives were developed as the framework for this
study:
1.
To determine the characteristics of the
livestock producers.
It would include such things as the
number of animals owned, the ethnic groups to which they
belong, the size of their families, and their activities
during the dry and wet season.
2.
To determine the operating practices of the
producers.
Such items of interest would be to determine the
feeding of the animals, the breeds and types they raise, the
land used for livestock production, and the marketing of the
animals.
3.
To determine the problems related to livestock
production and their usage of SODEPRA recommendations.
This
item would involve the identification of problems as seen by
46

---

47
the livestock producers and the extent to which they have
contact with and/or use the recommendations of SODEPRA.
Implications for the research program would also be
developed.
4.
To determine the relationship of the
characteristics of the livestock producer,
the operating
practices of the livestock producers and their problems in
livestock production to participation in the programs of
SODEPRA.
It is also an objective of this study to make some
observations of the effectiveness of research and extension
programs in the Ivory Coast on livestock production.
This
will include not only conclusions derived from tbe field
study with the livestock producers but also from the
analysis of the work of CRZ and SODEPRA and their
relationship to each other.
Sample Selection
The sample for this study was drawn from the
population of people engaged in livestock production across
the northern zone of the Ivory Coast.
Since the majority of
the livestock producers were in that region,
i t was deemed
best to concentrate on that region.
Ecologically,
livestock
seems better suit~a to that region.
Savannah in nature,
i t

---

48
includes the following departments:
Biankourna, Seguela,
Touba, Odienne, Boundiali, Korhogo,' Ferkessedougou and Bouna.
Villages within those departments were selected on the basis
of participation in the programs of SODEPRA.
At least
theoretically, most of the livestock producers would have
had equal opportunities to be involved one way or another in
the programs developed by SODEPRA.
The livestock producers, including the people
actually involved in livestock production, were identified
differently, according to their ethnic group.
It was
desired that the data be taken from not only the person who
actually managed the livestock operation, those who did the
day-to-day work and supervision of the animals, but also
from the owners of the livestock as well.
In the northern part of the country, there are the
three main ethnic groups from west to east as follows:
1.
The Malinke group in the Departments of Odienne,
Touba, and Seguela;
2.
The Senoufo group mainly in the Departments of
Boundiali, Korhogo, and Ferkessedougou; and
3.
The Lobi group in the Department of Bouna.
In some departments, one could find mixtures of
ethnic groups and that was the case in the Department of

---

49
Boundiali where Malinke and Senoufo are mixed.
The Peul
were also found in the Departments of Boundiali,
Ferkessedougou, and M'Bengue.
The following information was used as a guide in
selecting the interviewees.
In the Malinke group,
shepherds
are traditionally hired, and as part of his payment he has
the right to milk the cows twice a week and use i t as he
. - / -
sees fit.
The interviewer went to the field and as he met a
shepherd on a random basis he asked who owned the cattle.
Finding out about the owner, he then went to locate the
owner in the village and interviewed him.
Ten to 12 were
selected in each village, regardless of participation in
SODEPRA.
At the time of the study all of the villages were
at least accessible by motorcycle;
For the Senoufo group, there was a strong social
organization based on age so this characteristic was
utilized.
The older people were asked to designate the
livestock producers.
At random,
10 to 12 were selected and
interviewed.
Among the Lobi, children serve as herders, and
they were asked to designate the identity of the livestock
~
producers.
Some difficulty was encountered in the fact that
the producers resented contact with the children.
Usually

---

50
after explanation and discussion,
they answered the
questions without problems.
Ten or 12 producers per village
were selected as with the other groups.
As pointed out earlier, the Peul tribesmen generally
were the shepherds, either hired out to the Malinke or
Senoufo group or with their own herds on a nomadic basis.
Among the nomadic groups, generally, the larger herds were
selected for Interview as they could be found.
The Interview Schedule
Two sets of interviews were conducted.
One
interview schedule was developed for use with the sample of
livestock producers.
The schedule was developed in English
and translated into French by the author.
The person who
conducted the interviews in turn was trained by the author
and the interviewer in turn translated the questions into
the language of the particular group as he interviewed them.
The responses were then translated back into French and
then into English.
Interviews were also conducted with
certain key officials in the Ivory Coast in order to gain
information about research and extension operations in the
Ivory Coast.
The interview schedule was designed to collect data
00
the following items:

---

~.
51
t,
!
l.
The participation in programs of SODEPRA
2.
The nature of the livestock operations
I
3.
The characteristics of the respondents
4.
The crops grown
Il
5.
The animals raised
6.
The management of their animal operations
7.
The scale of their livestock operations
Collection of the Data
Since four major ethnic groups were encountered and
even more dialects were involved, collection of the data was
a problem.
Although French is spoken by many educated
people in the Ivory Coast, most villagers are not able to
speak French so it was necessary to conduct the interviews
in the vernacular of the area.
It was possible to secure
the services of an Ingenieur Agronorne (Agronomy Engineer),
which is roughly equivalent to a Master's degree in the
D.S., who was able to speak all of the languages and
dialects involved in the study.
He was trained by the
author and he conducted the field interviews with
the livestock producers.
He was graduated in 1976 from
the Agronomy School of Abidjan, and the data obtained from
the interviews were useful to him in his work as an animal
production specialist.

---

52
The author visited personally all of the areas
included in the study and participated in several interviews
at each location.
This enabled her to insure that the
interviewer understood the questions and that the interview
schedule was eliciting the desired data.
Appropriate
adjustments to the schedule were made as necessary.
Analysis of the Data
/--
The data from the field study were coded onto
computer sheets, transferred to punched cards and
percentages and Chi-Square values were calculated through
the facilities of the System Network Computer Center at
Louisiana State University.
The data were transferred from
computer sheets into tabular form for the study.
The major dependent variable, membership in SODEPRA,
was related to the independent variables in the study.
Chi-Square values were used to determine if there was a
significant difference for each of the independent variables
when compared with membership in SODEPRA.
The .20 level of
confidence was used to establish the significance of the
relationship.
These data are presented in Chapter v.
The information on research and extension was
analyzed using the case study approach.
The main functions
of CRZ and SODEPRA were identified and the relationship of

---

53
each to the other was also determined.
A principal question
in the study was the extent to which each as a developmental
agency was reaching the main objectives expected by the
Government.
A crucial part of the analysis in this regard
was the data obtained from the livestock producers.
To what
extent are those participating in SODEPRA programs making
changes?
And to what extent are the programs of the
_ /
agencies making relevant contributions to increased
production?

---

Chapter IV
LIVESTOCK RESEARCH AND EXTENSIOW WORK
Research and Extension work in livestock production
in the Ivory Coast is a function of the government.
The
organization of the government in this regard is depicted in
Figure 2.
As the diagram indicates, separate government
ministries are responsible for research and extension work.
The Ministry of Research is responsible for animal research
through CRZ
(Center for Animal Research).
The Ministry
oversees the research programs of the Ivory Coast, and this
includes all of the agricultural 'research programs.
The
extension programs in agriculture, called development
societies, are found in several different ministries.
Livestock production extension work is don€
by SODEPRA, and
i t is part of the Ministry for Animal Production.
THE LIVESTOCK PRODUCER
Since Ivory Coast livestock producers generally do
not themselves herd the cattle,
i t is often confirmed, and
correctly so,
that they are not breeders but proprietors of
54

---

55
PRESIDENT OF
THE IVORY COAST
MINISTRY OF
MINISTRY OF
MINISTRY OF
PLANNING
_
_
RESEARCH
_
ANn~...L
PRODUCTION
CRZ
SODEPRA
(Center for Animal
(Livestock Develop-
Research)
ment Society)
Figure 2.
Organization for Livestock Research and
Extension Work in the Ivory Coast

---

56
animals.
The parcelling out of cattle into larger herds,
done for reasons of caretaking efficiency, produces a
regrouping of animals which is most often entrusted to the
management of a Peul tribesman known to be the masters of
livestock production.
The peasant is traditionally a farmer
and the raising of animals comes about after receiving
cattle as a heritage.
The peasant farmer then arranges to
/ ~
have his cattle taken care of by a herder since he himself
follows farming as his pursuit.
It is often difficult to understand the secrecy that
traditionally surrounds the property of cattle.
In order to
have an exact idea of the structure of cattle as property,
70 percent of these declared owners possess less than la
head of the cattle per herd.
The ·structure of the herd
indicates generally that females represent more than 90
percent of the herd; the males are generally used as meat
for different needs (funerals, marriages, ritual sacrifices,
etc. ) .
The females are rarely sold; they constitute the
matrix for the numeric increase of the herd.
The average
size of the herds varies according to the region.
In the
Bouake region,
the numbers rarely exceed 150 head per herd;
in the Korhogo region they reach 200 head; but 100 head is
rarely attained in the Bouna and Odienne regions.

---

57
In all pastoral regions of the Ivory Coast, the
natural savannah is the only form of nourishment for the
animals.
Certain breeders timidly try to supplement the
natural grasslands with cane molasses, ground rice and
sometimes sun dried yam skins.
The commercialization of the animals in the frame of
economic speculation is practically nonexis~ent; marketing
in this manner of domain is unknown.
Only the young males
are used for the needs of the family.
In spite of the
situation, the proneness to own cattle is strong, because
cattle constitute the essential means of capital for the
peasant, and this possession is an undeniable source of
social prestige.
On occasion'-some peasants, also desirous
of arranging improvements for their animals, obtain money on
loan from the agricultural bank.
The Government of the Ivory Coast has made livestock
production one of its principal priorities.
The Ministry of
Animal Production, along with the Society of Breeding
Development, has the responsibility to carry out a policy of
increasing livestock production in the Ivory Coast.
This
policy will have to become meaningful to the livestock
producer if its is going to be successful.

---

58
CATTLE PRODUCTION
Two types of cattle production exist in the Ivory
Coast; traditional community cattle breeding which is
sedentary and largely spread throughout the country, and
transhumant cattle breeding, generally conducted by Peul
breeders from countries bordering the Ivory Coast to the
/ -
north (Mali, Upper Volta, and Guinea).
The community system is largely spread throughout
the lands of the Baoule,
the Djimini, the Senoufo and the
Malinke, while the Lobi utilize a family-type structure
linked to the dispersed lodging pattern which characterizes
this ethnic group in the Ivory Coast.
Cattle herding in the
community system is generally restricted to a Peul herder
from the north, who is hired and integrates himself more or
less in the community in which the animals are grouped.
This permits a more efficient herding system which avoids
waste in time and resources.
The low esteem of pastoral
activities is due to the absence of a pastoral tradition in
those tribes and to the cosmogony of Ivory Coast ethnic
groups which consider only agrarian activities to be
compatible with human dignity.
Undertaking the problem of
animal care-taking to the satisfaction of Ivory Coast

---

I
59
peasants is found in the responsibility of a Peul tribesman
-
in the framework of a well defined contract for the
surveillance of the herds.
The transhumant cattle-rearing system consists of
three types:
1.
The nomadic groups who periodically come from
Mali and Upper Volta, crossing the northern part of the
Ivory Coast in search of good pasturelands.
They benefit
also from the large inoculation campaigns undertaken by the
government to protect livestock.
These herds return to
their country of origin as soon as favorable breeding
conditions reappear there.
2.
Other nomadic herds which always come fr~
northern countries and which settle in the north of the
Ivory Coast, settling permanently in this region of the
country, going from one region to another to find the best
pasturelands at their disposition.
These herds generally
never return to their country of origin.
3.
Finally~ the Peul herds which come from northern
countries and which cross into the Ivory Coast to provision
urban centers with cattle for slaughter.
All transhumant herds create to different degrees
waste in the fields where food crops are grown causing

---

60
permanent conflicts with farmers.
These transhumant herds
consist essentially of Zebu-type c~ttle.
LIVESTOCK RESEARCH
Research programs are costly and many countries such
as the Ivory Coast cannot afford to subsidize programs with
no immediate positive outcome, still less, finance the
entirety of research programs of interest to them.
This
calls for some choices and for setting priorities.
In the
Ivory Coast such priorities are set by the Government and
assigned to the research institutes.
Belin (1975, p.
9) assesses the function of the
research institute in the following motto:
"La recherche
n'est pas une fin en soi mais doit etre un instrument au
service du development."
Put otherwise, research is not an
end per se; i t must be an instrument or a means for
development instead.
This statement emphasizes very clearly
the expectations of the Government for research.
The Center for Animal Research l
Situated seven kilometers from Bouake,
the Center
for Animal Research of Minankro was started in April 1943 as
lThis section of the report is adapted from an
unpublished paper,
"Informations Necessaires pour un Travail
de Fin d'Etudes," prepared by C.R.Z.

---

~~G~"
~~~
61
the seat of a station for the generating of the N'Dama
species.
Starting in 1946, several breeding activities were
conducted at the center; among those being, the breeding of
hogs, the breeding of poultry, and the breeding of the
N'Dama bovine species which was the object of a study with
the introduction of a group of females to the center.
The year 1960 saw the initiation of a study
concerning the crossbreeding of a European species, the
Jersey and an African species, the N'Dama, with the goal of
increasing dairy production in the Bouake region.
The
results of these crossbreedings were mediocre; the health
requirements were such that their use in the real
environment was not practical.
In 1975, a new dynamic waS given to cattle breeding.
Local species, the N'Dama,
the Baou1e, and the Lagune, and
the production of meat became the object of an indepth study
with the techniques being used in all existing levels of
breeding work in the Ivory Coast.
This orientation, with
assigned objectives, led a field of action outside of the
station center, transferring the work to the real
environment, the peasant environment.
In all the pastoral
zones of the Ivory Coast, there is a double concern,
built-in infrastructures which deals with decentralizing the

---

62
research structures to get them as close as possible to real
breeding conditions, and equipping them with tools to find
in the real environment indispensable solutions to problems
confronting animal breeding, and to test on a large scale,
the theme of free development.
These goals being sought lead one not only to
consider the animal as the subject of study, but the entire
system of traditional peasant production.
Research thus
conceived can only be efficient in the sense that i t will be
driven by scientific will to understand the peasants'
choices,
to be present at all levels of analysis that
intervene in the decisions made by the peasants, to grasp
the land relations that exist among all the systems of
production, and to make an effort to adapt the analytical
framework of the peasant concerning the study of the real
environment.
The results obtained in the framework of such
re-earch will have a large impact in the real environment in
the sense that i t will establish between the exact technical
analyses in the center and the global analyses of the
exploitation concerning the peasant, an intellectual "coming
and going;" these two analyses will mutually bring to light
results so that the application of these results will be
made without constraints.
This research directly undertakes
development of the species in that situation.

---

63
The Animal Research Center at Bouake-Minankro has a
surface area of 470 hectares,
seven ki10meters north of the
city of Bouake.
In addition to the central station, there
is an ancillary building at Yamoussoukro which is the office
of statistical support.
Concerning research, the Central
station has field locations called antennae which are
located in the center of the five pastoral zones of the
Ivory Coast; Bouake,
--
Debaka1a, Bouna, Korhogo and Odienne.
The programs related to sheep research are located in this
Center at Bouake.
The Animal Research Center has 16 employees of which
10 are researchers, one a national science volunteer who is
in charge ,~f statistical office, and three technicians.
There are 132 1aborers also who work in the center.
Pasture/Forage Program
This function works in the framework of one research
program entitled,
"The Study and Development of Grazing."
This program consists of three research operations:
1.
The study and betterment of potential fodder
2.
The administration of pastures
3.
The technology of grazing
It must be noted here that the group that works on
this program puts emphasis on a cultural and administrative

---

\\
64
technology of two types of graminaceous fodder;
the Panicum
Maximum and the Branchiaria Ruziziansis.
These two,
graminaceae used largely on the center permit them to cover
the needs of more than 800 head of cattle on an ar€a
of
about 400 hectares.
The results obtained with these two
graminaceous fodders are used on several farms where
extensive breeding is practiced.
Animal Production Program
This function consists of two programs; a cattle
program and a sheep program.
The following research
operations constitute the cattle program.
1.
The trial under field conditions of the
production and selection of the local cattle species at
different levels of intensification.
2.
The study and improvement of local cattle
species under the traditional breeding systems.
3.
The methodology of performance controls and the
treatment of data.
As significant results are obtained in
the framework of this program, emphasis is on methods of
controlled management of cattle herds under breeding
conditions in the Ivory Coast.
This method permits the use
of individual control records of the animals and the
carrying out of the most beneficial choices.

---

65
To accelerate the balanced development of the
animals, the scientific group carrying out this program
identified the limiting nutritive factors of natural grazing
in the savannah
and developed a balanced nutrition program
for animals under these conditions.
The results showed that
the animals of the Baoule species, which under conditions of
traditional grazing weigh an average of 180 kg at six year~
~
of age attained an average weight of 220 kg at two years of
age, with an average of 1.5 kg of dried yam skins as a
supplement to the natural grasslands.
These results
occurred primarily under traditional breeding/grazing
conditions.
It was also pointed out that a stratification
of the management of the herds permits a re9uction of the
lactation anoestrus and an increase in reproduction among
cows.
Finally an emphasis was placed on a methodology of
sensitizing and initiating the peasants of the Ivory Coast
to the grazing program, being that the peasants have no
pastoral tradition.
The only research operation on sheep is a program on
the selection and betterment of sheep.
Rations with a sugar
cane molasses base were studied; they showed improvement in
the development of the animals.
The difficult period for

---

66
sheep is during the lambing season in the context of the
central region of the Ivory Coast, and the rations were
beneficial.
The Antennae System
The Research Antennae, a type of extension of the
Animal Research Central Station of Bouake-Minankro was
brought to being under the initiative of Dr. Yao Konakou
Michel, who has been responsible for the program,
"The
selection of local cattle under a system of economically
profitable nourishment," with the aid of Dr. Balla Keita,
then Director of Scientific Affaires of the Ministry of
Scientific Research.
These Antennae were brought into being with the
concern of facing the realities of the sedentary systems of
grazing in the Ivory Coast, and they were based in the five
pastoral zones of the country:
Bouake - Affouvansou branch located 30 km to the
north of the city.
Dabakala - Kongodjan branch located 17 km south of
the city.
Bouna - located 2 km from the city.
Korhogo - Karakoro branch located 18 km south-east
of the city.

---

67
Odienne -
located 5 km to the west of the city
Each branch consists of a central infrastructure
which is a corral of around 1.5 hectares and a grouping of
areas in villages called "satellite corrals."
The construction of these antennae extended
throughout a period of two years, from 1977 to 1978.
The
five central corrals of these branches were constructed
following a unique plan
(see Figure 3).
Each central corral
has a length of 160 m. and a width of 110 m. and consists
of:
1.
an entry pen at one end
2.
four corrals for the carrying out of experiments
3.
a central corridor (going lengthwise) divided
into an exit passage and a retention passage, with each
having a loading chute at the end: a 1,500 kg weight is
placed at one of the extremities as leverage
4.
a departure and loading platform is built in one
of the central corral corners with a loading chute.
The corrals for the experiments are carefully
constructed.
They are equipped with shelters containing
fixed feeding troughs.
All of the enclosures are
encompassed by thin wire stretched between metal posts.
At
each antennae,
there is also the following:

---

It-
"
.,.
..
pi
•
•
M
•
68
;,I)
~1lT\\
t-/.
t
I
1
i·
I·,
t.
t
~~
T
~
-1'51'/"F\\
t'
~
~
"
.'
t11,~(Jl"r\\
1
~
".
~--
,,>
...
•
D~
~i;_'"
.. C·,9bnn
"be....
~ v.o.;G-
tl, 5""
.......- - - - " " * - - - - - - 4
,.
•
...
•
•
I
I
""t~I~I
_~1,.",_~
J!
......
---="--3-.i.l...::,,'\\~~'\\~~\\.:..;_~~\\,,~~_:_.:.\\,\\~1-__,c)(--- _. ti~
~-··-tS~~,...~===;)'---------1-1011't'1.
.
..__ .
Figure 3.
A diagr~ of the central corral used in
the antennae.

---

69
1.
Two beds for the cowhands
2.
Two feed storage areas
3.
An office
Concerning personnel, the branch is directed by a
business manager, and employs a research technician aided by
an assistant.
They organize the work of two cowhands and
one 1aborer~--It is important to note here that the antennae
are not mini-cattle stations for they organize neither the
livestock nor the grazi~g areas.
These antennae are simply
the work tools, made up of central corra1s at the heart of a
grouping of village corra1s,
including the animals which
constitute the basic ingredients of the aforementioned
j
research.
;~..
The antennae were created in response to often
stated criticisms by managers of grazing development, who
rightfully denounced the too great a distance that exists
between the obtained results of research at the station and
the actual problems which occur on the land.
It is a
detrimental distance in many senses, since i t condemns
research findings divorced from reality; of interesting
results that have no practical application.
The antennae make i t possible to remedy this deep
deficiency by facilitating study in which the object is no

---

~....
70
longer simply the animal, but the entire traditional village
system of grazing, the analytical matrix of problems being
adapted to the study of the problems which occur concretely
on the land.
The results which spread from these analyses
engender a hierarchy of realistic problems upon which the
possible solutions are researched at different levels.
First, a summary study is done at the level of the antennae,
~ ~
unearthing certain solut~ons which are refined at the
central station.
Then from the definitively obtained
solutions researched at different levels, technological
emphases emerge which are made available to the peas.ants in
the real environment.
The research is conducted, aimed at the real
environment which is the base.
Problems are conveyed to the
central research station, then recommendations are returned
to the real environment from the central station.
This
permits the following:
1.
Obtaining basic data from which practical
problems are derived, gaining a first hand view of the
difficulties.
2.
Tackling the problems with much more precision
at the central antennae level, built into the real
environment as i t is experienced there.

---

71
~L-;'
h~:~~~tlj';:,'
-.", ,
~
3.
Focusing the results of research at the station
to the problems of the breeders in the real environment who
utilize the results.
These results are derived from
solutions to the problems with the data gathered from the
breeder in the real environment.
There exists a permanent
intellectual "coming and going" between the real environment
and the station with transfer at the branch level, which
permits a continual readjustment of research problems which
respond with accuracy to the concrete problems.
Scientific research in the Ivory Coast is conceived
as contributing in a permanent manner to sustain
development, be i t the precedent of anticipated research of
the solution of future proplems, or by overcoming certain
difficulties in the execution of a development problem.
Finally, research accompanies growth by the improvement
solutions to certain problems.
In the framework of the growth of Ivory Coast
livestock production, animal research, through the
intermediary of the antennae, undertakes with breeding
programs the understanding of evident problems in the real
environment.
Research puts at the disposition of the
managers of the breeding programs,
innovations in the domain
of improved rations to the genetic potential of local

---

72
species.
The informed management of livestock for the
selection of elite sires is undertaken with the help of
research.
The indi~ations of the resistance to certain
diseases by local species are furnished to the managers of
breeding programs by research.
All the actions to improve
production are initiated by research which points out
appropriate innovations for each type of breeding system and
diffuses them into the organism of growth.
LIVESTOCK EXTENSION WORK
SODEPRA,
the development agency for livestock
production, was created in 1970 by government decree. and i t
was placed under the Ministry of Animal production.
Its
creation was brought about by a -high demand for animal
proqucts, especially meat, and the lack of a viable
livestock industry in the Ivory Coast to provide the
products.
To illustrate what has been happening with
,-
,-
relation to the demand for meat, the following depicts the
situation:
Total Demand
Individual
Year
(Metric Tons)
Consumption
1977
80,900
11.2 kg.
1980
96,000
11.9 kg.
1985
141,000
14.9 kg.

---

73
Satisfying this growing demand is "a major concern so the
Ivory Coast must itensify animal production.
Self-
sufficiency is still a far-off objective since recent
estimates have placed production at only 43 percent of
demand.
The overall objective of the Government is to reach
self-sufficiency by 1990.
It would also like to be able to
export meat and meat products much in the same way i t has
done with other agricultural products.
SODEPRA is charged
with the responsibility to promote animal production in
order to reach government objectives, a very difficult and
challenging assignment.
SODEPRA programs
SODEPRA has a number of concerns around which i t has
built its program for the improvement of livestock
production.
Concerning sedentary cattle breeding, the
sanitary framework is considered extremely important.
This
program consists essentially of vaccination campaigns
against Anthrax, plague, peripneumonia, etc., and internal
and external parasite control programs.
Some of the important program components are the
follo~ing:

---

74
1.
The construction of compartmentalized corrals,
making available personnel and facilities for sanitary
treatment.
2.
The work of crossing of Zebus and local breeds;
crossbreeding until now has been a bit disorganized, and the
emphasis has been placed on a policy of conservation and
selection of local species.
3.
Feeding regimes for traditional herds with
concentrated feed and fodder rations.
SODEPRA is organizing also the formation of combined
agro-pastoral farms designed to form distinct units of
livestock breeders, aimed at the systematic use of organic
manure.
There also exists under the aegis of SODEPRA, large
industrial cattle projects, emphasizing the crossing of
exotic species and certain local species to increase milk
.
production .
'
The transhumant groups
(Peul tribesmen) which come
to settle in the Ivory Coast with their herds are equally
the object of concern of SODEPRA.
The first objective
concerning the herds is to locate them.
To do this, SODEPRA
has undertaken a political arrangement of land division with
the view of the insertion of Peul breeders into the
framework of Ivory Coast peasantry.
The development of the

---

75
united Pastoral Breeding (U.P.B.) complexes of varied sizes
has been undertaken.
They are designed as sanitary
complexes comprised of washing areas, retention corridors,
and holding pens.
These complexes have been placed in the
Peul encampments and pathways of movement.
These different
arrangements are designed to modify environmental conditions
tg permit better usage of natural areas.
The design is
~
concerned with:
1.
The development of watering points around which
the use of pasturelands is organized.
2.
The construction of a series of roadways
permitting access to the Peul cattle encampment which
permit:
a.
an increase in exchange between the
Peuls and the local farmers,
b.
the facilitation of stocking, breeding
supplies, feeding, medication, etc.,
c.
the commercialization of Peul breeding
products (meat, milk).
3.
The arrangement of infrastructures to carry out
work with the animals;
(washing, retention corridors for
different manipulations, etc ).

---

· ~,.
76
4.
The arrangement of animal pathways by forage
plantings.
These arrangements must permit the Peul tribesmen to
integrate themselves in the Ivory Coast peasant environment
and to avoid isolation.
In effect, SODEPRA has put its emphasis on three
kinds of activities; training of the livestock producers
/ -
themselves, work on the animals themselves, and the
development of facilities to handle herds of cattle for
sanitary programs, etc.
As a consequence, i t is evident
that SODEPRA is a development agency doing both educational
work with producers and direct work with the animals to
i
improve conditions.
~
~.
~f
Organization of SODEPRA
To fulfill these activities, SODEPRA has implemented
a network of agents, scattered in all the pastoral regions
who work with the producers.
The activities of SODEPRA
extend throughout the Ivory Coast territory.
It has an
office in the north to service this region.
The pastoral
activities in the south of the country are supervised
directly by a group of technicians at the Ministry level in
bidjan.

---

77
Training programs for livestock producers are
conducted in five zones:
Touba, Odienne, Boundiali-Ferke,
Korhogo and Bouna.
The zones are divided into 33 districts
or areas with 219 training centers and 1690 corra1s.
One
SODEPR
agent is in charge of seven to eight corra1s, with
an average cattle population of 900 head to serve.
The
livestock producers gather their animals at the corra1s for
~-
service,
instruction, demonstrations and advice.
Personnel-wise, SODEPRA has a chief agent in charge
of each of the five zones, and they are further subdivided
into 33 districts each of which has a chief.
At the action
level, there are 219 agents who are supervised and trained
regularly by the district chiefs.
Accomplishments
In reviewing recent reports of SODEPRA,
it was
possible to put together some information on accomp1ishemnts
of the organization.
A resume of some of the actions
follows:
Nutrition:
using forage grasses developed and
tested by CRZ,
340 hectares of forage have been planted at
various locations as field trials.
Water:
during the rainy season, there is not a
problem with drinking water.
B~t, during the dry season,

---

78
the lack of water can create severe problems.
There are
reports of 84 water wells and 14 dams being constructed in
the five zones.
Mineral Supplements:
the advocacy of the use of
mineral supplements (salt blocks) has been initiated in each
of the five zones.
Animal Health:.
i t is estimated that seven percen~-
of the livestock are now vaccinated.
A tick eradication
program is underway at each of the corra1s, and a program to
deworm young animals is also underway.
Older animals are
observed and treated as necessary.
Selection of Sires:
good sires are sold cheap to
the producers; the emphasis is on the N'Dama in the west
region, the Baou1e in the east, and cross-breeding in the
central region.
Tolerance to trypanosomiasis is taken into
account in decisions on breeds.
/

---

, ,-'
Chapter V'
DATA FROM THE LIVESTOCK PRODUCERS
This chapter presents data obtained from the interviews
with the livestock producers.
A total of 102 usable
interviews were conducted, and the results from these
interviews constitute the data for this chapter.
Of the
interviews, 72 were classified as members or participators
in SODEPRA programs, while the remaining 30 had not been
involved.
Since membership was being used as the dependent
variable for the data analysis,
the data are presented in
that fashion, with the independent variables being clust~red
into the following sections:
characteristics of the
livestock producers, activities of the livestock producers,
farming operations, nature and scope of the livestock
operation, the livestock production program, livestock
marketing and use,
problems of the livestock producers,
participation in SODEPRA programs, and opinions about
SODEPRA programs.
Characteristics of the Livestock Producers
- - -
Table 1 presents data on the ethnic group to which the
livestock producers belong.
The data show that the Mande
79

---

· . I
80
Table 1
A Comparison by Membership in SODEPRA of Livestock
Producers as to Ethnic Group
The Ivory Coast, 1982
Percent EY Membership
Yes
No
-'"
Total
Ethnic Group
N=72
N=30
N=102
Akan
la
7
Krou
1
3
2
Mande
50
57
52
Senoufo
17
24
18
Lobi
J2
3
la
Non-Indigenous
la
13
11
Total
100
100
100
Because of inadequate cell frequencies in over 20 percent
of the cells, the Chi-Square was not calculated.

---

81
group is the main ethnic group involved in livestock
production.
Fifty-two percent belonged to the Mande group.
The next most actively involved group was the Senoufo which
comprised 18 percent of the total.
The Lobi and the
non-indigeneous group accounted for nearly the same
percentage of the total, 10 percent and 11 percent,
respectively.
Livestock production was less prevalent among
the Akan and Krou groups since only seven and two percent,
respectively, of these groups were involved in the sample.
Membership in SODEPRA did not seem to be related to
ethnic group membership.
This was especially evident among
the Mande where 50 percent of the membership group and 57
percent of the non-membership group were of that·~thnic
group.
Data on tribal membership is presented in Table 2
The main tribes were the Ma1inke and the Doou1a,
respectively, with 31 percent and 20 percent of the total.
These two tribes belong to the Mande ethnic group and as
already pointed out in Table 1, the Mande were the main
group involved in livestock production.
As with Table 1,
there wer.e deficiencies of data in some cells causing
validity problems so the Chi-Square test was not valid.
Regardless, membership in SODEPRA did not seem to be related
to belonging to an ethnic group or tribe.

---

82
Table 2
A Comparison by Membership in SODEPRA Of Livestock
Producers as to Tribal Group
The Ivory Coast, 1982
It
Percent EY Membership
Yes
No
Total
Tribal Group
N=72
N=30
N=102
Peul
9
13
10
Dioula
21
20
20
Agnis
1
1
Senaufo
17
24
19
Baoule
4
3
Guere
1
3
2
Malinke
29
37
31
Lobi
13
3
10
Sarnon
1
1
Others
4
3
Total
100
100
100
Because of inadequate cell frequencies
in over 20 percent
of the cells, the Chi-Square was not calculated.

---

83
,;.
Data on the religious affiliation of the respondents is
presented in Table 3.
The majority of the livestock producers were either
Moslems (49%)
or Animists (38%), while a much smaller
proportion (11%) were Christians.
When membership was
compared by religion, Animists and Christians were more
likely to be members, while Moslems were more likely to be
non-members.
The differences between members and non-members as to
religious affiliation, however, were not significant at the
.20 level of probability.
Religious affiliation, therefore,
was not associated with membership in SODEPRA.
Table 4 presents data on family size.
Because of the
practice of polygamy, family sizes·can be large as evidenced
by the data.
Family size has an important effect on the
numbers of people available as workers.
The family might
I
also have included extended family members,
such as nephews,
cousins, etc., as is customary in Africa.
The majority of
the families
(54%) had 10 to l~ members.
Thirty percent of
the total sample had a family size of 20 or more persons.
The differences between members and non-members as to
family size were not significant at the .20 level of
probability.
Membership in SODEPRA, consequently, was not
related to family size.

---

84
Table 3
A Comparison by Membership in SODEPRA of Livestock
Producers as to Religious Affiliation
The Ivory Coast, 1982
Percent EY Membership
. - /
[ ~
.
Yes
No
Total
; "
Religious Affiliation
N=72
N=30
N=102
Moslem
44
60
49
Christian
13
7
11
A,nimist
42
30
38
None l
1
3
2
Total
.100
100
100
x 2 = 2.4835 at-2 d.f. P = .24, N.S.
lNone Category removed for the computation of the Chi-
Square.

---

85
Table 4
A Comparison by Membership in SODEPRA of Livestock
Producers as to Family Size
The Ivory Coast, 1982
. - / -
Percent EY Membership
i\\
Yes
No
Total
Family Size
N=72
N=30
N=102
Less than 10
17
13
16
10-19
57
47
54
20
26
40
30
Total
100
100
100
x2 = 1.897 at 2 d.f.
p =
.42, N.S .
..':

---

86
Data on the number of wives is presented in Table 5.
As with Table 4, the effects of polygamy appear here
also.
Thirty-eight percent of the producers had two wives,
21 percent had three,
10 percent had four,
and seven percent
had five or more.
Only 15 percent had one wife.
This last
category was composed probably of Christians,
because of
religious prohibitions on more1han one wife.
The unmarried
_ /
group (9%) was probably composed of young shepherds.
There was again a
lack of data in some cells, causing
validity problems with the Chi-Square test.
Membership in
SODEPRA, however, did not seem to be closely associated with
the number of wives.
Table 6 prepents data on the level of education of the
livestock producers.
It is particularly crucial since
education is a limiting factor in agricultural development.
Seventy-five percent of the total had never been to school.
Looking at the differences by membership in SODEPRA,
13
percent of the non-members had had an Islamic education and
13 percent had had some elementary education.
There was
also seven percent of the SODEPRA members who had had a
university education.
The differences between members and
non-members on education were not pronounced,
and i t was not
possible to use the Chi-Square value since the expected

---

.
,
87
Table 5
A Comparison by Membership in SODEPRA of Livestock
Producers as to the Number of Wives
The Ivory Coast, 1982
Percent--EY Membership
Yes
No
Total
Number of Wives
N=72
N=30
N=102
Not Married
8
10
9
One
17
10
15
Two
40
33
38
Three
18
30
21
Four
10
10
10
Five or more
7
7
7
Total
100
100
100
Because of inadequate cell frequencies in over 2& percent
of the cells,
the Chi-Square was not calculated.

---

88
Table 6
A Comparison by Membership in SODEPRA of Livestock
Producers as to Level of Education
The Ivory Coast, 1982
Percent ~ Membership
_
Yes
No
Total~
Level of Education
N=72
N=30
N=102
None
78
71
75
Religious School
4
13
7
Elementary School
10
13
11
High School
1
1
University
7
3
6
Total
100
100
100
Because of inadequate cell frequencies in over 20 percent
of the cells, the Chi-Square was not calculated.

---

89
frequencies in some cells were overly small.
Regardless,
membership in SODEPRA did not seem to be highly relAted to
level of education.
Activities of the Livestock Producers
- - -
Table 7 presents data on the number of years the
producers had been engaged in livestock production.
The
larger number of producers (32%)
had four to six years of
experience in livestock production, followed by 26 percent
who had 6 to 10 years, and 14 percent who had 1-3 years of
experience.
The differences by membership in SODEPjA were
not large, and the Chi-Square value was not used because the
expected values in some cells were low.
Regardless~
membership did not seem to be related to years of ~~perience
in raising livestock.
The livestock producers were asked about the extent of
their personal involvement in livestock production.
The
data are presented in Table 8.
The data points out that 83 percent of the total group
were sometimes involved personally in livestock production,
with 80 percent of the members and 90 percent of the
non-members giving that response.
As pointed out earlier,
livestock production is not a tradition among Ivorians.
They normally hire herdsmen to raise their animals as

---

90
Table 7
A Comparison by Membership in SODEPRA of Livestock
Producers as to the Duration of
Livestock Production
The Ivory Coast, 1982
Percent ~ Membership
Yes
No
Total
Years
N=72
N=30
N=102
1-3
20
30
24
3-4
15
13
15
4-6
33
30
32
6-10
28
23
26
Over 10 Years
2
4
3
Total
100
100
100
Because of inadequate cell frequencies in over 20 percent
of the cells, the Chi-Square was not calculated.

---

91
Table 8
A Comparison by Membership in SODEPRA of Livestock
Producers as to the Extent of Personal
Involvement in Livestock production
The Ivory Coast, 1982
/ ~
Percent EY Membership
Extent of Personal
Yes
No
Total
Involvement
N=72
N=30
N=102
Regularly
13
la
12
Sometimes
80
90
83
Not at All
7
5
Total
100
100
100
Because of inadequate cell frequencies in over 20 percent
of the cells, the Chi-Square was not calculated.

---

92
evidenced by the fact that only 12 percent of the producers
are regularly involved in livestock production.
Since this
number would include people who are shepherds and herdsmen
by tradition,
principally the Peul tribesmen who numbered 10
percent of the total sample, the full time Ivorian livestock
producer is almost non-existent.
It also appears very
clearly that membership in SODEPRA has had little if any
impact on this facto~/-The Chi-Square value was not valid
in this regard because of low expected values in some cells.
The importance of livestock production to the producers
is a corollary to the extent of involvement.
Data on their
responses are presented in Table 9.
According to the data,
the majority (51%)
placed
livestock production as secondary, compared with food
production or other activities.
Even though animal
production is an extra benefit for the family,
the main
emphasis is put on crops.
It would be a disgrace if the
head of the family did not have enough food for his family
to eat for the ye3r,
but not having animals is not looked
down upon.
Yet, 32 percent of the respondents looked upon
livestock production as important.
Membership in SODEPRA
was not related since about equal numbers of both groups
gave that response.
From the author's experience,
i t would

---

93
Table 9
A comparison by Membership in SODEPRA of Livestock
Producers as to the Importance of Livestock
in Their Rural Activities
The Ivory Coast, 1982
Percent EY Membership
Y.es-
No
Total
Importance
N~72
N=30
N=102
)~
.",:,
Secondary
51
50
51
Not Important
17
10
15
Important
32
33
32
other
o
7
2
Total
100
100
100
Because of inadequate cell frequencies in over 20 percent
of the cells, the Chi-Square was not calculated.

---

94
probably be that the "importance" response came from
villagers where population increases are taking place like
Korhogo and Ferkessedougou, and the demand for livestock
products is rising.
The principal activities of the livestock producers
during the rainy season are presented in Table 10.
It is
clear that farming is an important activity during that
~ ~
period since that is the time when the food crops are grown.
Fifty-one percent are actively involved in farming during
that period.
Sixty percent of the non-members and 47
percent of the SODEPRA members reported participation in
farming as their major activity.
Since irrigation is not a
common practice in traditional Afri~an society, the farmers
take advantage of the ample rainfall to plant food crops,
and this activity takes up most of their time.
The
requiremerit of constant care and the presence of adequate
rainfall contribute much to yield increases, making i t very
necessary for the farmer to concentrate on his crops.
During the wet season also,
the dirt roads are impassable,
limiting livestock production activity.
Although the
Chi-Square test was not valid, the differences between
members and non-members did seem to point in the direction
of the business people being more likely SODEPRA
participators and the farmers less likely participators.

---

95
Table 10
A Comparison by Membership in SODEPRA of Livestock
Producers as to the Principal Activities
During the Wet Season
The Ivory Coast, 1982
Percent .Qy Membership
~.-/-
Yes
No
Total -
~..
Activities
N=72
N=30
N=102
Farming
47
60
51
Business
21
13
19
Mixed Farming and Business
14
10
13
other
16
17
15
None
3
2
-,<
.......
Total
100
100
100
Because of inadequate cell frequencies
in over 20 percent
of the cells, the Chi-Square was not calculated.

---

96
Data on dry season activity of the livestock producers
is presented in Table 11.
During the dry season,
the livestock producers are involved in different
activities, contrasted with the wet season where farming
crops predominated.
Farming dropped to 16 percent who
indicated i t as their major activity.
Business, mixed
farming and business, and other activities,
in almost equal
proportions, 23 percent, 27 percent, and 26 percent,
respectively, were the principal listed activities.
The
data also showed that SODEPRA members
(25%) were more likely
to be engaged in business compared with non-members (17%),
but the differences were not significant at the .20 level of
probability.
The dry season is a time for certain kinds of activity.
It is a time when fields are cleaned,
new land is prepared
for next season's crop, and i t is a time when important
social events take place,
religious rites, weddings, etc.
The dry season is also the time when livestock are more
likely to be used for celebrating events and/or sold.
Data are presented in Table 12 on the inheritance
system.
Since this is the basic way most people in the
Ivory Coast get their initial start in livestock production,
it is important to review it.

---

97
Table 11
A Comparison by Membership in SODEPRA of Livestock
Producers as to Activities During
the Dry Season
The Ivory Coast, 1982
Percent EY Membership
Yes
No
Total
Activities
N=72
N=30
N=102
Farming
15
17
16
Business
25
17
23
Mixed Farming and Business
28
27
27
Other
25
30
26
None
7
10
8
Total
100
100
100
X2 = 1.140 with 4 d. f. P
= .89, N.S.

---

98
Table 12
A Comparison by Membership in SODEPRA of Livestock
Producers as to System of Inheritance
The Ivory Coast, 1982
Percent EY Membership
/ - -
Yes
No
Total
System Of Inheritance
N=72
N=30
N=102
Matriarchal
28
23
27
Patriarchal
72
77
73
Total
100
100
100
x 2 = 0.215 with 1 d.L P = .64, N.S.

---

99
The data reveal that 73 percent of the total sample
follow the patriarchal inheritance system, while the
remaining 27 percent represent matriarchal inheritance.
The
latter system is practiced principally among the Senoufo and
Akan groups.
As mentioned earlier, however, the Akan are
generally not livestock producers.
Inheritance line plays a major role as children mature
and begin their ow~families.
In the patriarchal system,
each male child is given several head of cattle to help him
begin his life.
In the matriarchal system, the girls are
given cattle.
The differences between SODEPRA members and non-members
were Qot significant at the .20 level of probability.
Being
an active participator in SODEPRA was not associated with
inheritance system.
Farming Operations
Data on the crops grown in the Ivory Coast by the
livestock producers are presented in Table 13.
Basically,
the crops were grown -for human food consumption, the only
deviation being cotton.
Ten different crops were grown, with six of them being
grown by sizeable proportions of the sample.
Taro (92%) and
corn (66%) were grown by well over half of the respondents,

---

100
Table 13
A Comparison by Membership in SODEPRA of Livestock
Producers as to Crops Grown
The Ivory Coast,' 1982
Percent by Membership Growing Crop
Yes
No
Total
Crop
N=72
N=30
N=102
xl
P
./~
Cotton
14
23
11
1. 551
N.S.
Rice
46
27
40
3.274
.19
Corn
63
73
6
1. 743
N.S.
Yarn
44
47
45
.159
N.S.
Sorghum
47
40
45
.808
N.S.
Millet
33
23
31
1.005
N.S.
Cassava
6
3
5
*
Plantain
3
2
*
Taro
92
90
91
*
Peanuts
4
3
*
Others
6
4
*
*Because of inadequate frequencies in over 20 percent of
the cells, the Chi-Square was not calculated.

---

101
while sorghum (45%), yam (45%), rice (40%) and millet (31%)
were grown by about one-third of the total group or more.
It is important to note that nearly all of these crops are
food crops for humans, and they were grown basically for
this purpose.
The only crop where there were significant
differences between the two groups was rice, where 46
percent of the SODEPRA members grew rice,
compared with 27
percent who were not members but grew rice.
The difference
for rice was significant at the .19 level of probability,
while for the remaining crops the differences between
members and non-members were not significant or the
Chi-Square test was not valid.
In order to further define the farming operation, the
number of crops grown by each live"stock producer was
tabulated.
The data are presented in Table 14.
The majority of the livestock producers (75%) grew two
to three crops.
Affiliation with SODEPRA did not seem to be
related to the number of crops grown as evidenced by the
fact that 75 percent of the members and 73 percent of the
non-members grew two to three crops.
The subsistence crops grown are closely related to
climatic conditions.
In the northern villages, the families
grow maize, millet, yams or sorghum, crops which grow well

---

102
Table 14
A Comparison by Membership in SODEPRA of Livestock
Producers as to the Number 'of Crops Grown
The Ivory Coast, 1982
Percent ~ Membership
Yes
No
Total
Number of crops
N=72
N=30
N=102
One
3
1
Two to Three
75
73
75
Four to Five
17
11
15
None
8
13
9
Total
100
100
100
Because of inadequate cell frequencies in over 20 percent
of the cells, the Chi-Square was not calculated.

---

103
under drier conditions.
They also grow two or three crops
because there is less chance of failure as weather
conditions vary.
Rice is more of a wet area crop so i t is
grown in the central part of the country where there are
fewer livestock.
Taro is grown virtually everywhere as
indicated in the data.
Those who grew no crops were Peul tribesmen.
For the
most part, they are nomadic in character, and do not have
land where crops can be grown.
Nature and Scope of the Operation
Observations were made on the nature of the operation,
either nomadic or sedentary.
Data are presented in Table
15.
It is important to note that both types of operations
involve the use of open range land.
The difference occurs
in that the sedentary operation is based in the village,
with the herdsman moving the cattle to and from the grazing
area.
In the nomadic operation, the herder moves his
household with him; he does not have a permanent village
base.
As indicated earlier, the nomadic operations are run
by Peul tribesmen from Upper Volta or Mali who move their
animals to the best available grazing lands.
As the data
indicate, the large majority <89%)
of the livestock

---

104
Table 15
A Comparison by Membership in SODEPRA of Livestock
Producers as to Nature of the Operation
The Ivory Coast, 1982
Percent BY Membership
Yes
No
Total
Nature of Operation
N=72
N=30
N=102
Nomadic
12
7
11
Sedentary
88
93
89
Total
100
100
100
x2 = .749 at 1 d.f. P = .39, N.S.

---

105
operations are sedentary, with slightly more of the SODEPRA
members being nomadic.
The differences, however, were not
statistically significant at the .20 level of probability so
membership in SODEPRA was not associated with the nature of
the operation.
Data on the commercial or non-commercial nature of the
operations are presented in Table 16.
The great majority
(85%) were commercial operations, selling at least some
livestock to others.
SODEPRA members (88%)
seemed to be
more likely to sell livestock, compared with non-members
(80%),
but the differences were not statistically
significant at the .20 level of probability.
As a result,
i t was not possi~le to say that membership in SODEPRA was
associated with the commercial nature of the operation.
Data on the number of hectares of land owned by the
livestock producers are presented in Table 17.
A large
number of the producers (38%) did not know how much land
they own.
They knew the physical limits of the land, but
because of a lack of education they did not know how to
express size.
The SODEPRA members (40%) were more likely to
express this answer as comoared with non-members (33%).
Of
those who knew the size, more reported two hectares or less
(40%).
Only 10 percent owned more than four hectares.
The

---

106
Table 16
A Comparison by Membership in SODEPRA of Livestock
Producers as to Nature of the Commercial or Non-
Commercial Nature of the Operation
The Ivory Coast, 1982
Percent BY~embership
Commercial or
Yes
No
Total
Non-Commercial
N=72
N=30
N=102
Commercial
88
80
85
Non-Commercial
12
20
15
Total
100
100
100
x2 = .950 at 1 d.f. P = .33, N.S~
.:
t
'.

---

107
Table 17
A Comparison by Membership in SODEPRA of Livestock
Producers as to the Number of Hectares Owned
The Ivory Coast, 1982
Percent EY Membership
Yes
No
Total
Number of Hectares
N=72
N=30
N=102
~
Don't Know
40
33
38
;.
~.
,
;:.
Less than one hectare
7
13
10
j
'it
,
One to two hectares
32
27
30
:,
"
To to three hectares
6
7
6
"-
~
Three to four hectares
6
7
6
Four or more hectares
9
13
10
Total
100
100
100
Because of inadequate cell frequencies in over 20 percent
of the cells, the Chi-Square was not calculated.
'~
'~

---

108
differences between SODEPRA members and non-members were not
able to be calculated statistically -because of low expected
values in some cells, and the pattern of differences was
mixed.
Table 18 presents data on a companion question to table
17, the amount of land reserved for livestock production.
The vast majority (83%) reported none.
Fewer members (81%)
. - / -
than non-members (90%) gave this response.
Because of the
low expected value in some cells, i t was not possible to use
the Chi-Square value.
~
It is apparent from the data that the land is reserved
'
.•..•.•
-,
for food crop production primarily.
Even though livestock
may have to be moved miles for feeding, particularly during
the dry season, the land owned is reserved for food
production for humans.
Table 19 presents data on the number of livestock owned
by each respondent in the study.
The numbers were not large.
Thirty-eight percent of the total sample owned twenty head
or less, while 34 percent owned between 21 and 40 and 28
percent owned 41 or more.
When the differences were
compared by membership in SODEPRA,
the differences were
extremely pronounced.
Half of the non-members had 20
animals or less, compared with one-third of the SODEPRA

---

110
Table 19
A Comparison by Membership in SODEPRA of Livestock
Producers as to Number of Livestock Owned
The Ivory Coast, 1982
Perce~t EY Membership
-..
Yes
No
Total
Number of Livestock
N=72
N=30
N=102
20 or less
33
50
38
21 -
40
32
40
34
41 or more
35
la
28
Total
100
100
100
-,
- ]
x 2 = 6.658 with 2 d.f. P = .01

---

I I I
members.
At the other end of the spectrum, 35 percent of
the SODEPRA members owned 41 or more, contrasted with only
10 percent of the non-members.
These differences were
significant at the .01 level of probability so i t is
possible to state that membership in SODEPRA is associated
with the number of head of livestock owned.
with respect to the number of cattle owned, the data
are presented in Table 20.
The pattern was much the same as
in Table 19, except that the number of cattle owned were
:-....,~-
fewer.
Owning cattle was associated with membership in
SODEPRA since the differences in the data were significant
at the .OB level of probability.
SODEPRA members owned more
cattle with 57 percent having more than ten head as compared
...
. ~
~
<.'
wi th non-members (36%).
It is also important to point out
that about half the total sample (49%)
had ten head or less
of cattle, making i t very clear that cattle-raising in the
Ivory Coast is still a very small scale operation.
The Livestock Production Program
Four main breeds of cattle are raised in the Ivory
Coast, the Baoule,
the N'D~ma, the Zebu, and the Lagunaire.
Data are presented in Table 21 on the producers who raise
the different breeds.

---

112
Table 20
A Comparison by Membership in SODEPRA of Livestock
Producers as to Number of ,Cattle Owned
The Ivory Coast, 1982
Percent EY Membership
Yes
No
Total
.-/
Number of Cattle
N=72
N=30
N=102
10 or less
43
64
49
11 -
30
37
23
33
31 or more
20
13
18
Total
100
100
100
x2 = 3.509 with 2 d.L P = .08

---

109
Table 18
A Comparison by Membership in SODEPRA of Livestock
Producers as to Amount of Land Reserved
for Livestock Production
The Ivory Coast, 1982
Percent EY Membership
Yes
No
Total
Amount of Land
N=72
N=30
N=102
None
81
90
83
Less than one hectare
1
4
2
, ~'.
One to two hectares
14
3
11
Over two hectares
4
3
4
:"
'
Total
. 100
100
100
Because of inadequate cell frequencies in over 20 percent
of the cells, the Chi-Square was not calculated.

---

113
Table 21
A Comparison by Membership in SODEPRA of Livestock
Producers as to Breed of Cattle Raised
The Ivory Coast" 1982
Percent by Membership
Growing Breed
Yes
No
Total
Breed
N=72
N=30
N=102
xl
P
Baoule
50
50
50
0.000
N.S.
N'Dama
61
57
60
0.174
N.S.
Zebu
49
40
46
0.632
N.S.
Lagunaire
6
7
64
*
Mixed
4
3
4
*
*Because of inadequate cell frequencies in over 20 percent
of the cells, the Chi-Square was not calculated.

---

··~
114
· I
~
~c
The N'Dama is the most widely used breed.
Sixty
percent of the producers had N'Dama cattle.
About equal
proportions (49% for Baoule and 46% for Zebu> of the total
sample raised the Baoule and Zebu b~eeds, while only 6
percent reported Lagunaire and 4 percent mixed breeds.
The
Zebu is less resistant to trypanosomiasis so i t has
lim~~ations where the tsetse fly is present, while the
N'Dama is more resistant.
The differences between the members and non-members
with respect to the N'Dama, Baoule, and Zebu breeds were not
significant at the .20 level of probability.
Membership in
SODEPRA, as a consequence, was not associated with the
breeds of cattle raised.
Data on the feeding program followed by the livestock
producers are presented in Table 22.
Natural grazing was
the most popular way of feeding animals since 75 percent of
the total sample gave this response.
Most of the time in
Africa, there is a constant struggle between man and animals
for food.
In the northern part of the country, pasture is
usually abundant during the wet season, and at that tine
animals get maximum food out of natural grazing.
The
grasses are tender and do not lignify.
During the dry
season, pastures dry out and the animals usually lose
weight.

---

115
Table 22
A Comparison by Membership in SODEPRA of Livestock
Producers as to the Livestock Feeding Program
The Ivory Coast, 1982
Percent BY Membership
Yes
No
Total
Feeding Program
N=72
N=30
N=102
Natural grazing only
74
77
75
Natural Grazing with
,
Mineral Supplement
22
20
2
i Natural Grazing with
Feed Supplement
4
3
4
.' Total
100
100
100
Because of inadequate cell frequencies in over 20 percent of
the cells, the Chi-Square was not calculated.

---

116
Twenty-two percent of the producers added a mineral
supplement, principally salt.
This is an innovation brought
in by SODEPRA, but i t is interesting to note that roughly
equal proportions of members and non-members use NaCl.
Traditionally, salt is only used for humans in Africa.
A
very small proportion of the sample (4%)
have started using
/
yam peels, corn or rice bran and molasses as a supplement to
/ -
~
their cattle.
This is also a recommendation of SODEPRA.
The differences between SODEPRA members and non-members
as to the feeding program were very slight, and the
Chi-Square value was not used since expected values in some
cells were low.
Data on the cultivation of forage by the livestock
producers are presented in Table 23.
This is a relatively
new innovation, and as the data show, only six percent of
the SODEPRA members are using this practice.
None of the
non-members are following this practice.
It is very evident from the data that the work of CRZ
on Stylo (Stylocanthes and Bracaria) has not yet made any
significant impact upon the producers.
Stylo is especially
suitable for the dry season when edible forage becomes
scarce for livestock.
It is such a new idea that producers
cannot yet perceive the benefit of cultivating forage.
They
t ! '

---

117
Table 23
A Comparison by Membership in SODEPRA of Livestock
Producers as to Use of Forage Cultivation Practice
The Ivory Coast, 1982
Percent EY Membership
~---Yes
No
Total
Use of Practice
N=72
N=30
N=102
Yes
6
o
4
No
94
100
96
Total
100
100
100
Because of inadequate cell frequencies in over 20 percent of
the cells, the Chi-Square was not calculated.
,
~
:
. t .
" '. '~

---

118
c'
.'
have not yet made the transition from cultivating food crops
and cash crops to forage cropping for livestock.
It will
~
"
take a great deal of time and effort to help producers
realize the need for forage cultivation.
Livestock Marketing and Use
Table 24 presehts data on the estimated average weight
"
,
. - / -
.,f.~
of ' cattle owned by the producers.
The data show ~ery
clearly that most of the cattle averaged 100 to 350
kilograms.
Eighty-five percent reported their animals in
"11
~>
that category.
Only 12 percent reported the average weight
);. ~
(;'
(
~
as being above 350 kilograms.
The differences between
,
SODEPRA members and non-members were, very slight,. and the
Chi-Square value was not used because of low expected
frequencies in some cells.
The research work at CRZ shows that i t is possible to
get weiqhts of the native breeds up above 350 kilograms with
supplementary feeding.
This is especially true for Zebu
cattle in the area where the tsetse fly is controlled.
Data on the types of animals sold are presented in
"
',: -'~',
~., .
Table 25.
One-fifth of the producers did not sell livestock
at all, and this was more wide-spread among the non-members
~
(30%).
The same was true for cattle where more of the non-
" '1
E~~, ~;
~~~, .

---

:::;}..:
119
Table 24
A Comparison by Membership in SODEPRA of Livestock
Producers as to'Average Weight of Cattle
I
b
~'_ 0. \\:
~. ~~
, -
The Ivory Coast, 1982
~. ".
Percent ~ Membership
~
;i/
Yes
No
Total
~ . .,
Averaoe Weight
N=72
N=30
N=102
Less than 100 Kg
1
7
3
100 to 350 Kg
86
83
85
Over 350 Kg
13
10
12
Total
100
100
100
Because of inadequate cell frequencies in over 20 percent of
the cells, the Chi-Square was not calculated.
'.
~

---

~~~~~.
Table 25
. '.{.~~
',~~~1~
.
.,
~
A Comparison by Membership in SODEPRA of Livestock
Producers as to Type of Animals Sold
The Ivory Coast,i982
Percent .eY Membership
Yes
No
Total
Type of Animals Sold
N=72
N=30
N=102
None
15
30
20
Only Cattle
31
37
32
All Kinds
54
33
48
Total
100
100
100
x2 = 4.4& with 2 d.f. P = .04
,'I~'~,r;

---

121
members (37%)
sold only cattle than did the SODEPRA members
.
(31%).
The situation was reversed for all kinds of
livestock where more SODEPRA members (54%) marketed all
kinds of livestock, compared with non-members (33%).
The
differences were statistically significant at the .04 level
of confidence so membership in SODEPRA was associated with
marketing practices.
Data on the place of marketing are presented in Table
26.
Most of the respondents marketed locally (41%) or a
combination of the local market and a large city (31%).
Only 7 percent reported marketing solely in the main cities.
The differences between members and non-members were not
pronounced, and i t was not possible to use the Chi-Square
.
,
value because of low expected frequencies in some cells •
~
With regard to the use of livestock for home
tI!
"
consumption, data are presented in Table 27.
There was
widespread use of livestock for home consumption as 86
percent of the total sample used their livestock for family
or religious events or both.
The differences between
SODEPRA members and non-members were not significant at the
·'r
.~~
".
.20 level of probability so membership in SODEPRA was not
associated with such usage.

---

122
Table 26
A Comparison by Membership in SODEPRA of Livestock
Producers as to Place o~ Marketing
The Ivory Coast, 1982
Percent ~ Membership
Yes
No
Total
Place of Marketing
N=72
N=30
N=102
None
17
27
20
Local Market
43
37
41
Main Cities
8
3
7
Combination
31
33
31
Total
100
100
100
Because of inadequate cell frequencies in over 20 percent of
the cells, the Chi-Square was not calculated.

---

123
Table 27
. A Comparison by Membership in SODEPRA of Livestock
Produ~ers as to Use of Livestock for
Home Consumpti'on
The Ivory Coast, 1982
-,,-
Percent EY Membership
Yes
No
Total
Home Consumption Use
N=72
N=30
N=102
Familly Events Only
29
47
34
Religious Events Only
21
17
20
Both Family and Religious
Events
35
27
32
Other Uses
15
10
14
Total
100
100
100
X2 = 2.932 with 3 d. f. P =.40, N. S.
:1.
~~;·....,jr·
l'
:~v
· ··~Ii
· ,-
~~; ':~
,M~

---

124
It is evident that the main purpose of livestock
production is for family use.
Animals are killed for family
events such as weddings, funerals, and in the patriarchal
system, a few head are given to the son~ to start their own
,
herds.
Also, when the family has an important problem,
cattle and/or sheep are sold to get cash.
It is also used
customarily for important religious events.
The Muslims
traditionally barbecue a sheep or goat at Tabaski, one of
their main feasts, and i t is a tradition for the Animists to
kill a chicken, a sheep or a calf to their Gods asking for
favors such as a good rainy season, health for the family or
forgiveness for some transgression.
Data on the average price, per head for cattle marketed
is presented in Table 28 and for sheep and goats in Table 29.
In the Ivory Coast, livestock are sold by the head.
Price
is determined by weight and condition, and i t is a matter of
i~
negotiation.
As the data indicate, price varies widely, and
for the most part these are village prices.
Most of the
producers sell their cattle for 40,000 CFA to above 80,000
CFA (approximately $160 to $320), with 28 percent of the
total sample reporting 40 to 50,000 CFA as the average price
and 23 percent reporting above 80,000 CFA.
For sheep and
goats, the prices are considerably lower, running from
~." .,
; . ~
'"
;'~:~J
~~ :.

---

·,
125
. \\
Table 28
.~.
A Comparison by Membership in SODEPRA of Livestock
Producers as to Average Price per Head of
Cattle Marketed
The Ivory Coast, 1982
Percent EY Membership
Yes
No
Total
Average Price*
N=72
N=30
N=102
Less than 20,000 CFA
0
7
2
20,000 to 40,000 CFA
6
13
8
40,001 to 50,000 CFA
26
33
28
50,001 to 60,000
31
23
28
60,001 to 80,000
15
1.
11
Over 80,000 CFA
22
23
23
.~.
.
Total
100
100
100
Because of inadequate cell frequencies in over 20 percent of
the cells, the Chi-Square was not calculated.
*CFA ( Central African Franc); approximate value -
250 CFA =
$1 (U.S. )

---

126
Table 29
A comparison by Membership' in SODEPRA::of Livestock
Producers as to Average price,per Head of Sheep
or Goat Marketed
The Ivory Coast, 1982
Percent EY Membership
Yes
No
Total
Average Price*
N=72
N=30
N=102
Do not sell
88
73
83
I
10,000 to 20,000 CFA
6
17
9
20,001 to 25,000 CFA
3
7
4
I
Over 25,000 CFA
4
3
4
Total
·100
100
100
Because of inadequate cell frequencies in over 20 percent of
the cellsi the Chi-Square was riot calculated.
*CFA (Central African Franc): approximate value -
250 CFA =
$1
(U.S.)

---

127
· .".'
10,000 CFA to above 25,000 CFA (approximately $40 to $100).
Only a small percentage of the prod~cers sell sheep and
goats since 83 percent reported not selling them.
Differences between SODEPRA members and non-members did
not seem to be large, and Chi-Square values were not used
because of low expected frequencies in some cells.
If these same animals were sold in the major cities
where meat demand is higher, the price would be higher.
One
of the problems in moving livestock to the main city markets
is transportation.
Problems of the Livestock Producers
The major problems as perceived by the livestock
producers are grouped together and presented in Table 30.
~
Only the yes responses are listed.
An analysis of the
..
problems follows:
Diseases -
Ninety-one percent of the sample list
disease as a problem.
In the African tradition, even when a
human being is sick, they seldom take the person for medical
treatment.
It is even more true when it comes to the health
of animals.
Usually they relate the problem to bad luck or
as a punishment from God.
Yet, they do recognize diseases
almost universally as a problem since when a contagious
disease goes through the herd they do not know how to handle
it.

---

128
Table 30
~
A Comparison by Membership in SODEPRA of Livestock
,
Producers as to Perceived Problems
;
The Ivory Coa s t , '. 19 8 2
)§.
Percent by Membership
Yes
No
Total
Problems
N=72
N=30
N=102
xl
P
/ -
Diseases 7-
93
87
91
2.747
N.S.
Nutrition
47
53
49
.316
N.S.
~~ .
,'-
Transpor-
tation
13
13
13
.013
N.S.
1 Water
53
50
52
.065
N.S.
"
..'
Labor
38
40
38
.056
N.S.
Others
53
73
59
6.928
.03

---

129
Nutrition -
Nutrition is a problem, especially during
,r -
the dry season when fields dry out, and there is little for
grazing.
Yet half of the producers do not recognize i t as a
problem.
They do not recognize that even when there is
grass, the animals also need mineral supplements and
protein.
Transportation -
Very few.../L13%)
of the producers
recognize transportation as a problem.
They fail to
recognize that higher prices could be gained for their
;,.
~
livestock if transportation to the larger cities were
~
available.
Water - Fifty-two percent perceived water as a problem.
In the north,
the dry season can be very long, making water
unavailable, even for humans.
The" action of SODEPRA in
digging wells and building dams can be a solution to the
problem, and i t is helping.
At an earlier time,
shepherds
used to walk with the animals for many miles seeking
drinking water,
causing dehydration and weight loss.
Labor -
Labor was reported as a problem by 38 percent
of the sample.
Since one shepherd usually works for a
number of owners,
this brings on problems.
It is also
difficult to find a good shepherd, and when this occurs the
animals may wander and destroy crops,
causing relationship
problems.

---

130
others - Other problems were mentioned by S9 percent of
"
<,
the sample.
Included were items such as financial problems,
problems of land (space to raise livestock), problems with
SODEPRA agents, especially when they are asked ~o gather
their animals into the SODEPRA corrals for SODEPRA programs,
and jealousy on the part of other villagers and family
i
members.
When a man has,many cattle, the expectation is
~~
; ,
~-
that you are rich so people make more demands of you.
For the listed problems, there were no significant
differences between the SODEPRA members and non-members,
the exception being the other category where 73 percent of
the non-members listed a problem, compared with S3 percent
~;
of the SODEPRA members.
It is ,apparent that membership in
SODEPRA was not related to perception. of problems.
Participation in SODEPRA Programs
Data on the participation of the livestock producers in
certain SODEPRA programs are presented in Table 31.
Because
of the nature of the questions dealing with actual
participation in SODEPRA programs, as one would expect the
SODEPRA members participated at much higher rates.
In each
item the level of probability for the difference was at the
.001 level.
With regard to the specific items of
assistanc~, participation is as follows:

---

131
Table 31
A Comparison by Membership in SODEPRA 'of Livestock
Producers as to Participation ,in SODEPRA Programs
The Ivory Coast, 1982
Percent by Membership
Growinq Breed
~-
SODEPRA
Yes
No
Total
:- .
Proqrams
N=72
N=30
N=102
xl
P
,'~
Vaccination
89
13
67
61.321
.0001
I
Water Wells
44
3
32
60.757
.0001
Mineral
Supplement
47
33
62.534
.0001
Advisory
Service
56
3
40
'62.074
.0001
.'

---

132
Vaccination -
Eighty-nine percent of the members used
the vaccination program as compared-with 13 percent of the
non-members.
The high mortality rate in Africa due to
diseases--trypanosomiasis, tuberculosis, peripneumonia,
etc.--make i t almost impossible for 'certain breeds to
survive.
Vaccination is done exclusively by SODEPRA agents
because of the low level of education of the producers.
Water Wells - The dry season in the north can be as
long as five to six months.
Without the wells i t would be
extremely difficult to raise livestock.
Forty-four percent
of the SODEPRA members used SODEPRA wells, compared with
three percent of the non-members.
Mineral Supplement -
One-third of the total sample used
mineral supplement and all were SODEPRA members.
It is a
new idea brought in by SODEPRA.
Advisory Service -
Fifty-six percent of the SODEPRA
members reported using the advisory service of SODEPRA for
problems with sanitation, nutrition, and other things.
Opinions About SODEPRA Programs
The respondents were asked their opinions about the
usefulness of the innovations being brought out by SODEPRA.
The data are presented in Table 32.
Seventy-one percent of
the members as compared with 3 percent of the non-members

---

133
Table 32
A Comparison by Membership in SODEPRA of Livestock
Producers as to Their Opinions About the
Usefulness of SODEPRA Innovations
The Ivory Coast, 1982
Percent £y Membership
Yes
No
Total
~
Usefulness
N=72
N=30
N=102
il'~
Yes
71
3
51
Sometimes
18
10
16
No
11
17
13
No Opinion
70
20
Total
.100
100
100
x2 = 70.715 with 3 d.f. P = .0001
?1,
'.~,"'<
"
.;.'
\\
ig
1-. ~ ..

---

134
thought that the innovations were useful.
Their opinions
}
about mineral supplementation and vaccination programs were
positive in terms of contributions to improve livestock
production.
Eleven percent of the members and 17 percent of
the non-members thought that SODEPRA did not bring out
useful innovations.
In certain tribes such as the Senoufo
group, cert~E actions of SODEPRA were not considered as
innovations.
They traditionally gather their cattle in
pens, for example, so they did not consider the SODEPRA
corrals anything new.
The differences between SODEPRA members and non-members
"};
¥
,
were highly significant since the Chi-Square value was at
~
the .0001 level of probability.
Membership in SODEPRA, as a
consequence, was related to usefui opinions about SODEPRA's
innovations.
The respondents were queried as to whether the
innovations of SODEPRA met their needs.
-The data on this
item are presented in Table 33.
Forty-seven percent of the
members said that the innovations met their needs, while 36
percent of the members said they did not always meet their
needs.
Conversely, none of the non-members said that
SODEPRA's innovations met their needs and 10 percent said
~
not always.
The differences between the two groups were
!.t

---

135
Table 33
A Comparison by Membership in SODEPRA of Livestock
Producers as to Degree to Which Innovations
Meet Needs'
The Ivory Coast, 1982
Percent ~ Membership
Yes
No
Total
Degree
N=72
N=30
N=102
Yes
47
33
Not Always
36
10
28
No
17
17
17
No Opinion
73
22
Total
.100
100
100
x 2 = 72.045 with 3 d.L P = .0001
;,.
;1

---

136
highly significant as evidenced by a Chi-Square value at the
.0001 level of probability.
Membership in SODEPRA was
associated with a feeling that SODEPRA's innovations met
their needs.
,
The respondents were asked whether their opinions were
solicited by SODEPRA in setting objectives.
The data are
presented in Table 34.
. . / -
Among the SODEPRA members, 46 percent thought that
SODEPRA sometimes asked their opinions, and 24 percent said
their opinions were not asked; 29 percent said yes.
Most of
the non-members said no (20%) or had no opinion (73%).
The
differences were highly significant at the .001 level of
confidence so membership in SO~EPRA was associated with
being asked about objectives.
The livestock producers were asked to respond true or
false to a" statement that SODEPRA did not solve major
problems.
The data are presented in Table 35.
Ninety-seven percent of the members said that the
statement was false, and 77 percent of the non-members also
felt the same way.
The differences were highly significant
at the .0001 level of probability so membership with SODEPRA
was associated with a reaction of false.

---

137
Table 34
A Comparison by Membetship in SODEPRA of Livestock
Producers as to SODEPRA Asking Opinions of
Producers About Objectives
The Ivory Coast, 1982
Percent ~ Membership
Asking Opinions
Yes
No
Total
About Objectives
N=72
N=30
N=102
Yes
29
21
Sometimes
46
7
34
No
24
20
23
No Opinion
1
73
22
Total
"lOO
100
100
x 2 = 69.148 with 3 d.f. P = .0001

---

138
Table 35
A Comparison by Membership in SODEPRA of Livestock
Producers as to Responses to the Statement That
SODEPRA Did Not Solve Major Problems
The Ivory Coast, 1982
Percent EY Membership
Responses to
Yes
No
Total
the Statement
N=72
N=30
N=102
True
3
23
10
False
97
77
73
Total
100
100
100
x 2 = 80.548 with 1 d.L P = .0001

---

139
~ .
.'
The data indicate that most of the livestock producers
recognized that SODEPRA had helped them to solve their major
problems.
They recognize that the sanitation and
nutritional work had been beneficial tothern.

---

Chapter VI
SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Summary
The efforts of promoting livestock production began
. . / -
in 1973~1974, when the big sahelien drought kept the
traditional suppliers such as Mauritania, Niger, Mali and
Upper Volta from providing enough meat to the Ivory Coast's
growing population.
The Ivory Coast's livestock production
has been one of the weakest in all of west Africa.
The
~ .
government was then concerned with the low level of animal
production; objectives were established by the Ivory Coast
government through SODEPRA in connection with the CRZ's
research program to reach at least self-sufficiency by 1990.
It seems that many factors were behind that retardation of
livestock production in the country; lack of motivation,
lack of formal education, and limitations of resources to
promote modern livestock production.
This study is intended
to provide more understanding of the factors behind the
weakness of livestock production in the Ivory Coast.
140

---

141
Research Design
The specific objectives of the study were:
1.
To determine the characteristics of the
livestock producers,
2.
determine the operating practices of the
producers,
3.
to determine t~e problems related to livestock
production and their usage of SODEPRA recommendations,
4.
to determine the relationship of
characteristics of the livestock producers, the operating
practices of the livestock producers and their problems to
participation in programs of SODEPRA, and
5.
to make some observations of the effectiveness
of research and extension programs in the Ivory Coast on
livestock production.
The sample for this study was drawn from the
population of people engaged in livestock production across
the northern zone of the Ivory Coast.
The following
departments are included:
Bian Kourna, Seguela, Touba,
Odienne, Boundiali, Korhago, Ferkessedougou and Bouna.
In
the northern part of the country, there are three main
ethnic groups:

---

142
1.
The Malinke group
2.
The Senoufo group
3.
The Lobi group
The characteristics of each group were used as a guide in
,
selecting the interviewees.
At random, 10 to 12 producers
were selected and interviewed in each department.
Two sets
i
of interviews were conducted.
One interview schedule was
~
~.
developed for use with the sample of livest6ck producers and
102 villagers were interviewed.
Interviews were also
conducted with key officials in the Ivory Coast.
Most
villagers do not speak French; i t was necessary to conduct
the interviews in the vernacular of the area.
The data were analyzed, utilizing the facilities of
the System Network Computer Center at Louisiana State
University.
The major dependent variable, membership in
SODEPRA, was related to the independent variables in the
study.
Chi-Square values were used to determine if there
was a significant difference for each of the independent
variables when compared with membership in SODEPRA.
The .20
level of confidence was used to establish the significance
I
of the relationship.
The information on CRZ and SODEPRA was
1
analyzed using the case study approach.
)
?
~
':1
~j
.,
·1
I

---

143
Summary of Findings
The following summary of findings has been drawn
from the study:
Characteristics of the Respondents
1.
The Mande, Senoufo and Lobi groups were the
main ones involved in livestock production in the region
selected for the study.
2.
Religious affiliation did not seem to be
related to participation in SODEPRA programs.
Most
respondents were Moslem or Animist.
3.
Family size was not related to membership.
4.
Education levels were low and it is a serious
handicap to livestock production programs
Activities of the Livestock Producers
- - -
5.
The producers had limited experience in
livestock production.
6.
Most producers are only occasionally involved
in livestock production; herders are hired to tend the
livestock.
7.
Other activities, principally food crop
production, took precedence over livestock production.
8.
The patriarchal system of inheritance is the
most widely used in the area.

---

Farming Operations
9.
Six main crops were grown: corn, millet, rice,
sorghum, taro and yam.
The crops grown were closely related
to climatic conditions.
10.
Most producers grow two or three food crops.
Nature and Scope of the Operation
11.
Most livestock production is sedentary in
nature.
The livestock herd is village-based, and herders
take the animals out to graze.
12.
SODEPRA members were more likely to sell
livestock.
13.
The majority of the producers did not reserve
land for livestock production; open range was used.
14.
The number of head of livestock owned by
individual producers was small: the median number was
approximately twenty-five.
Membership in SODEPRA was
associated with owning more livestock.
15.
The number of cattle owned was small: 49
percent owned 10 head or less.
Membership in SODEPRA was
associated with owning more cattle.
The Livestock Production Program
16.
Four main breeds of cattle were raised in the
Ivory Coast: N'Dama, Baoule, Zebu and Lagunaire.

---

145
17.
Natural grazing was the most popular way of
feeding animals; new innovations by SODEPRA--mineral
supplements and feed supple~ents--were used by both members
and non-members.
18.
Cultivation of forage is a new practice
brought in by SODEPRA and only a very few SODEPRA members
used it.
Livestock Marketing and Use
19.
The average weight of cattle was generally
between 100-350 kgs.
20.
Twenty percent of the respondents did not sell
animals; membership in SODEPRA was associated with selling
animals, however.
21_.
There was a heavy emphasis on the use of
livestock for family consumption.
22.
Most of the animals marketed were sold
locally; transportation was a major problem.
23.
Animals were sold on a per-head basis; price
varied widely.
Problems of the Livestock Producers
24.
Disease was the biggest problem reported by
producers.
Other important problems mentioned were
nutrition, water and labor.
Membership in SODEPRA was not
~
associated with problem definition.
~I
~
~
w
II

---

146
Participation in SODEPRA Programs
25.
Programs in which respondents 'participated
were vaccination, use of water wells, mineral supplements,
>
and advisory services.
SODEPRA membership'was highly
associated with use of the programs.
Opinions About SODEPRA Programs
26.
Membership in SODEPRA was highly associated
with favorable opinions about SODEPRA innovations and
programs.
27.
There were sizeable numbers of respondents who
expressed concern about the degree to which SODEPRA
innovations met the needs of producers.
Conclusions
The following conclusions are drawn from this
study:
1.
The United States is one of the world's leading
producer of food for many reasons,
but one of the most
important ones is the following:
Research and extension work and the philosophy
behind them have made the U.S.A. the number one producer of
food.
In the Ivory Coast there are many research
institutes, and they are supposed to work closely with the

---

147
various SODE agencies.
The research institute--SODE
System-- is working, but some improvements are needed.
These would include the following:
The farmers or the producers should be the primary
,
target, and especially those farmers who grow subsistence
crops, and not only those farmers who grow cash crops.
The SODEPRA agent and the researcher should work
. . / -
with farmers under local :conditions, rather than the farmers
going to SODEPRA to seek help because he is limited by many
factors.
Research topics should be chosen according to the
immediate needs of farmers under local conditions.
Bas~c means should be used to diffuse research
findings to the farmers and methods should be developed to
bring these findings to farmers to help them cope with their
immediate·problems (e.g., radio, slides, short courses in
the farmer's language and field trips).
Result
demonstrations under farm conditions are a necessity.
An effective extension organization should be a
connecting link between the institutes for the department of
research and the farming communities.
It should provide
growers with the findings of research and help them to make
use of new knowledge to solve problems.
A good extension

---

148
organization also should bring farmers'
problems to the
attention of the research workers so that such problems can
be solved as quickly as possible; moreover, this should
allow the research worker to be abreast of the situation in
the field.
In this connection, the educated young people
serving as extension workers have the ability to serve as
the link between the researchers (usually French Nationals),
/ -
a speaker of French, and the farmer who speaks only his
local language.
Without the help of extension workers there
is no one who can relate to both farmers and research
workers.
The research findings would remain hidden in
reports and the government as well as the research workers
would remain ignorant of the,farmer's needs.
2.
It is evident from this study that more
emphasis is put by the farmers on subsistence crops rather
than livestock production.
When one is aware of the
problems caused by malnutrition, especially protein
deficiency, some changes need to be made in people's
atti tudes.
In many African tribes, children are no"t allowed
to eat meat; i t is strictly reserved for adults.
Children
need more protein than adults; they need protein at
different stages of development.
There is a need for change
in that tradition.
SODEPRA agents must try to make the

---

149
producers understand that i t is imperative for their·
children and the family to consume "meat and dairy products
every day as they are doing with other foods (roots, grains,
etc.>.
They do not need to wait for big events to kill an
animal for celebration.
Meat should become as important as
other foods in their daily diet.
The number of head of
livestock owned by the producers is low, and an effort must
/ -
be made to increase the numbers to help resolve the protein
problem.
3.
In order to overcome the problems of
underdevelopment, the developing countries must catch up by
intensive education programs.
For farmers who are basically
illitera-te, the extension approach is the key,to the problem.
Demonstrations, field days, short· courses, television,
radio, all supported by good visual aids, can be used to
educate the farmers.
Informal education, therefore,
is
needed to fill the gap created by illiteracy.
The basic
concepts of health and nutrition as well as good
agricultural practices need to be taught in the villages.
The ones who have the opportunity to go to school have the
duty to use their knowledge to help the ones who did not
have that opportunity.
Many educated people think that i t
is disgraceful to go back to the village and work.
There is

---

'.:.~.:~I
150
need to change attitudes of the educated people so that they
are willing to share their knowledge with others,
particularly with the fellow rural people.
Instead of
looking down on going back to the land, especially those who
,
receive an education oriented toward medicine, agronomy or
animal production, they should be proud to use what they
have learned to help their families and others in the
village to contribute to the effort made by the government
to improve rural life.
4.
Animal production is not a tradition among
Ivorians.
Most of them have grown subsistence crops for
many years and more recently cash crops, but livestock
production is a novelty to most of the livestock producers.
They have relatively few years of experience and the
majority think of livestock as a secondary activity.
Since
the Ivory Coast government is spending a lot of money to
import meat from outside, it is time to put more emphasis
through CRZ and through SODEPRA on motivating the Ivorians
to change their attitude toward livestock production.
Instead of importing meat and dairy products from outside, a
portion of the money used for importation can be used to
promote and encourage the producers to produce more
livestock.
The government can in return buy their animals

---

151
for the country's consumption by doing what the· government
has been doing for the coffee and cacoa growers •.. (The .. Ivory
Coast government is buying the coffee and cacoa beans from
the growers.)
The government.has a budget.to feed the army.
It also runs boarding schools and many other institutions.
All of these could use the animals produced by fellow
Ivorians .
. . / -
According to this study, the marketing system is
r
village-based.
When the Ivorians will get motivated, a
I~
better system of marketing will be needed; better prices,
,
better slaughter facilities and transportation.
These
organizations require money, but outside loans can be
arranged by the government of the Ivory Coast to improve
livestock production.
5.
The sedentary system of livestock production is
followed by most of the Ivorians.
That fact can be an
I
advantage for SODEPRA in diffusing ideas about livestock
production.
It also offers opportunities to improve
sanitation and nutrition practices and to get improved sires
introduced into the herds since normally groups of livestock
~
producers pool their cattle and hire a herdsman.
There is
"
,
~
plenty of land available where forage can be planted and
feeding programs can be organized by SODEPRA.

---

152
There is already some research information
available •. CRZ and other research 'institutes have shown
that the weight of animals can be increased by feeding them
properly.
Molasses and yam peelings can be used as sources
of energy in certain areas of the Ivory Coast.
If animal
production can become an important source of income to the
villager, it will result in a change of attitude and they
~-
will De willing to buy minerals and diet supplements.
This
program alone of increasing the weight of the animals can
have a significant impact on meat production in the Ivory
Coast.
Recommendations
!,
i . -
The experience gained during data collection, the
findings from the interviews, and the reading of the
different'annual reports have several implicatio~s for
animal production in the Ivory Coast.
1.
In order to get better results from CRZ as a
research institute for animal production, SODEPRA and CRZ
should be more closely linked to each other.
The two
agencies should be at least under the same ministry to avoid
loss of energy and expenses.
The budget devoted for animal
production should be accessible to CRZ for animal research

---

153
and the two institutions should be at the same location.
CRZ is in Bouake and SODEPRA's main" activities are taking
place in the north.
The interaction between CRZ and SODEPRA
is not obvious.
The relationship between CRZ and SODEPRA
needs to be improved.
2.
The low level of formal education can be
compensated by good training programs.
Short courses in the
livestock producers'languages can be organized, and slides
and field trips can also be scheduled.
CRZ and SODEPRA
workers must realize that the adoption of new practices by
the livestock producers poses psychological problems, and
the need for preliminary studies in the field of social
scienc~s and the economic motivations of livestock producers
should precede any action.
3.
When the Ivory Coast government begins buying
animals at competitive prices like it is doing for the
farmers growing cash crops such as coffee or cacoa,
livestock production will become as important as these cash
crops in the national economy.
The government is investing
money for the food of the national army, the boarding school
and the animals of the livestock producers can be well used
for these institutions' consumption and it can be a very
good source of income for the livestock producers.

---

154
4.
It seems to be crucial to develop when possible
cooperation among African countries-in the field of animal
production, especially those countries that have the same
ecological conditions.
It is also important to develop
liaison between researchers working'in the same disciplines
or areas and i t is important to train as many as possible
African researchers in the different disciplines related to
/ ~
animal production.
Cultivation of forage and mineral supplements are
new practices brought by the SODEPRA to producers.
When
possible, i t is better to avoid any direct competition
between human beings and animals with respect to food
resources and potentialities.
5.
In the Ivory Coast fo~r cattle breeds are
raised (N'Dama, Baou1e, Lagunaire and Zebu).
It seems
important to study the production potential of the best
breeds within a species using selection methods based on the
criterion of the best biological equilibrium in each local
area.
6.
Equal emphasis must be placed on both
educational and productivity related aspects in the SODE
objectives.
The SODE programs should be organized as
centers for adult education; namely, as learning centers for

---

155
the farmers or livestock producers who have never had the
opportunity to go to school.
More emphasis should be placed
on the informal education aspect of the SODE.
7.
Proposed communication channels are hereby
outlined for better diffusion of research findings in the
Ivory Coast (Figure 4).
It is necessary to include the
Ministry of Education in any extension (SODE) programs •
. . / -
Extension is concerned with people's education.
Any form of
education, be it formal or non-formal, as is the case in an
extension system, will have a great impact in a country such
as the Ivory Coast where the majority of the population is
illiterate.
As a consequence, a proposed model for
livestock production extension work ~s found in Figure 5.

---

'\\'
~
156
.'
i
Figure 4.
.
PROPOSED COMMUNICATION CHANNELS
I
f·
•• SUBJECT MATTER
RESEARCHERS
SPECIALISTS
\\ PROGRAM
SUPERVISORS
1
IVILLAGE AGENTS [
!
I
I
FARMERS, LIVESTOCK PRODUCERS

---

157
Figure 5.
PROPOSED MODEL FOR LIVESTOCK PRODUCTIOll
EXTENSION WORK
IGOVERNMENT J '~
MINISTRY OF
MINISTER OF
MINISTRY OF
ANIMAL PRODUCTION
EDUCATION
RESEARCH
I
SODEPRA
~ SUBJECT-MATTER I
SPECIALISTS
I
/ '
....
iI'
.....
"
....
I
'DISTRICT OFFICE I - - - - - - - - - "
/ '
-
ANTENNAE [
~
/'
/ '
tILLAGE OFF ICE'
~ I
I
LIVESTOCK PRODUCERS

---

BIBLIOGRAPHY
158

---

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' •
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r~ .... ' ~ ~ _~... .,~.
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---

",
..',
, 165
"
\\
......
\\
;
.... :- ..
.,
~.
(o(
,
",~t:.\\. ".,"
".'
,.-.,
Yao'},(Kouakou,': M
"L 'OBSERVER,
auxiliary research assistant."
'r. 'Note"No. :25
ZOOT!CRT!8; 1977.
)
",
~\\~ _i)t
V'
1
'~l.j£:'. (':':
•
~I
:,.
'.;:
to· <~ .
•
\\ .
>,
,
,"'""'.

---

APPENDIX
166

---

167
INTERVIEW SCHEDULE
I.
Characteristics
a.
What is your ethnic group?
b.
What is your religion?
c.
What is your family size?
d.
How many wives do you have?
e.
What is your level of education?
f.
Describe your activities in a one year period.
g.
What is the total superficy (hectaria) of your
land?
h.
What type of production--nomad or sedentary--
do you follow?
i.
Are you in patriarchal or matriarchal system
of inheritance?
j.
What are the main crops grown?
11.
Production Units
a.
What is the total number of livestock animals that
you raise or own?
b.
Please categorize numbers of:
cattle
sheep
goats
Others
c.
What breeds of cattle do you raise?
d.
How do you feed your animals (cattle)?
e.
What type of forage is cultivated, if any
f.
Describe the natural pasture
g.
What is th~ average adult weight of the cattle
h.
Describe the number of hectaria designated for
livestock production.
Ill.
Marketing
a.
Do you sell your animals?
b.
If yes, which ones are sold?
c.
Are the animals sold alive or killed (meat)?
d.
What are other uses of livestock?
e.
Describe the place of marketing:
local market
your home
---- ship to the main cities
f.
What is the price by unit of marketing (prix
par unite de vente)?

---

168
IV.
Values and Attitudes
a.
Is livestock production a tradition in your
culture?
b.
How is a livestock producer seen (or perceived)
by your society?
c.
How long have you been a livestock producer?
d.
How important is livestock production in your
rural activities?
e.
Do you increase the number of your animals?
f.
Do you use your animals for transportation?
g.
Do you use them for field work?
h.
Do you raise the animals yourself or do you hire
somebody to do it?
i.
If you hire somebody to do it, why?
j.
Do you have SODEPRA assistance?
k.
If yes, how does SODEPRA assist you (which
areas)?
1.
Does SODEPRA bring innovations?
m.
If yes, do the innovations meet your needs?
n.
Does SODEPRA get your opinion before setting
objectives for livestock production?
o.
Do you think your opinions are taken into
account by the SODEPRA agents?
V.
Problems
a.
Define the major problems that you have as
livestock producers.
b.
How does SODEPRA help to solve some of your major
problems?

---

VITA
The author is a native of Upper Volta.
Her age is
not known exactly because no birth certificate was issued at
the time of birth in 1951, but she finished her primary
education in 1964, at the age of 13.
She attended high
/ -
school in Upper Volta, Switzerland and the Ivory Coast.
She
received the High School Diploma (French Baccalaureate,
Serie D)
in 1972.
She attended the University in the Ivory
\\
Coast, with the first two years in science, particularly
I
chemistry, biology and geology.
In 1974, she was admitted
to the School of Agronomy of the Ivory Coast as a third year
university student in agriculture where she earned the
"Diplome I'Ingenieur Agronome" in 1976 (essentially a M.S.
in Agriculture).
She went to the United States in 1976 and
studied English, preparatory to entering an American
university.
In 1979, she received the Master of Agriculture
degree from the University of Florida at Gainesville.
Upon
completion of that degree, she enrolled at Louisiana State
Unive~sity.
She is married to Dr. Gabriel Konan NIGuessan,
a medical doctor, and has two daughters, Rachelle, age
three, and Beatrice, age one.
169

---

RESUME
L'objectif global de cette etude etait de recueillir
les informations de base sur les programmes d'elevage de betail
en Cote d'Ivoire, et de determiner les fa~teurs qui pourraient
entraver la reussite de ces programmes. Sur cent deux eleveurs
interroges, 72 etaient membres
de la SODEPRA, et 32 ne 1 'etaient
pas. Les donnees recueillies a partir des experimentations ont
~te codees, et transferees sur des cartes informatiques perfo-
2
rees ; les pourcentages et les valeurs Ki
ont ete calculees.
La variable dependante principale, affil iation a la SODEPRA,
etait contrastee ~ux variables independahtes dans cette etude.
Les valeurs de Ki
ont ete utilisees pour determiner s'il y
avait une difference significative pour chacune des variables
independantes,
comparees a la variable dependante principale,
affiliation a la SODEPRA.
Le degre de probabilite 0.2 etait
utilise pour etablir 1 I importance de 1 'inter-relation.
L'approche
de 1 'etude de cas etait aussi utilisee pour analyser les activi-
tes du CRZ et de la SODEPRA.
Les resultats montrent que, le MANDE , le SENOUFO et le LOBI
sont les principaux groupes impliques dans 1 'elevage du betail
au Nord.
Le taux eleve d' illetres a cree un probleme dans la
promotion de 1 'elevage du betail. Un manque de motivation a
ete observe parmi les eleveurs. Quatre races principales etaient
elevees en Cote d'Ivoire, et le paturage etait la methode la plus
populaire pour nourrir les ruminants,
resultants ainsi en un
poids moyen tres bas chez les bovins.
Les eleveurs ont rencontre
beaucoup de problemes, surtout la maladie.
L'interaction entre
le CRZ et la SODEPRA etait limitee.
La these suggere que la production animale en Cote
d'Ivoire aille du type tradftionnel
a un type plus moderne,
utilisant une approche extensive.
Les bases pour un systeme
reel et efficace existent, mais elles doivent etre ameliorees.

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