The Production (Reproduction, Mortality and Herd Size) of Beef Cattle in ‘Fast Track’ A1 and A2 Resettlements Schemes in Bubi, Gwanda, Umguza and Matobo Districts of Zimbabwe

This paper explores the production (number of calves per herd per year, number of animals that die per herd per year and average herd size) of beef cattle in villagised A1 and individualised A2 model of the “Fast Track Land Reform Programme” in the Matabeleland region of Zimbabwe. The resettlement model was premised on increasing herd productivity through increasing the availability of grazing land and water with the assumption that the resettled farmers would abandon subsistence agriculture in favour of market driven production. The follow up assumption was that improvement in beef cattle production would significantly increase household incomes for the farmers and contribute to poverty alleviation. Determining the productivity of beef cattle from A1 and A2 schemes was frustrated by poor record keeping. This study focused on three indicators that the farmers could easily quantify and verify, namely: number of calves per herd per year, number of deaths per herd and herd size. Quantitative and qualitative surveys were used to collect information from sampled farmers and key informants. A total of 196 records were collected (47 from Bubi, 39 from Gwanda, 50 from Umguza and 60 from Matobo Districts). Eighty six (86) records were collected from A1 settlements (37 from Bubi, 5 from Gwanda, 15 from Umguza and 29 from Matobo Districts) 110 records were collected from A2 settlements (10 from Bubi, 34 from Gwanda, 35 from Umguza and 31 from Matobo Districts).The data was analysed using SPSS. A Fixed Effects Regression Model (FRM) and the Maximum Likelihood Estimation (MLE) procedures were applied. The study revealed that average herd size was 29.8±13.7, numbers of births per year were 16.6±9.6 calves/herd and numbers of deaths were 4.7±1.1 animals per herd during the one year period of reporting. The findings compare very well with the national averages of 46% (compared to 56%) and 16% (compared to 16%) for birth and death rates respectively in the communal sector and fall far lower than the then large scale commercial sector (LSCS) rates which had mean calving averages of 79% and mortality rates (rangeland) of 3%. It was suggested that the increased production of A2 farmers over A1 farmers was a function of scale due to increased grazing land rather than improved efficiencies of production. A study of success factors showed that tenure security, type of resettlement scheme, livestock husbandry, breed composition, and education had a larger coefficient of determination value (R2 = 66.17%) hence a significant effect on cattle production in resettlement areas. The implication of these findings is that beef production in Fast-Track resettlement areas has not reached the pre Fast Track levels of large scale commercial farms but close to the levels of communal farms. However, this study shows that there is scope for improvement. The resettled farmers have not made significant investments in securing inputs and technology to enhance their productivity. Improving the competitiveness of the beef sector in Zimbabwe’s resettlement areas will require farmers to raise their management levels, improve input supply, provide adequate water and enhance use of superior genetics to achieve greater productivity.