Transitional Opportunities of the Family Farms to Agribusiness in Livestock Production in Cameroon

This study seeks to catalogue the opportunities for livestock production in the North West Region of Cameroon. Using Google Earth Maps, twenty urban and twenty peri-urban points were randomly selected based on settlement, followed by a random selection of four livestock farmers per point to participate in this study. A random sample of 160 questionnaires was collected and analysed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences version 20.0. The result showed that farmers kept a variety of livestock species of which most were pigs followed by poultry. Although poultry were the second most common species kept, they were more important than all other species in the livelihoods of farmers due to their multiple roles. This study suggests that information on innovations in livestock production should be available to farmers to improve their production and sales. Research Article Transitional Opportunities of the Family Farms to Agribusiness in Livestock Production in Cameroon Mbu Daniel Tambi* and Forchid Julius Anyah Department of Agricultural Economics; University of Dschang, West Region, PO Box 222 FASA, Cameroon Received: 22 April, 2019 Accepted: 12 December, 2020 Published: 14 December, 2020 *Corresponding author: Mbu Daniel Tambi, Department of Agricultural Economics; University of Dschang, West Region, PO Box 222 FASA, Cameroon, E-mail:


Introduction
A strong and effi cient agricultural sector has the potential to feed its growing population, generate employment, earn foreign exchange and provide raw materials for industries.
Agriculture is a major source of livelihood throughout the world especially for the majority of people living in rural areas in developing countries. It has been noted that about 75% of the world population is rural and the main source of income of this population is agriculture. About 25000 people die every day in the world due to hunger or hunger related issues particularly in Africa [1]. Up to this century, poverty still remains prominent in the developing countries and one sixth of the world's population live below the poverty line of less than a dollar a day which is the extreme poverty level [2] and according to Lipton [3] 90% of them are small scale farmers (family farms).
Livestock have multiple roles in human society. They contribute substantially and directly to food security and to human health. For poor and under-nourished people, particularly children, the addition of modest amounts of livestock products to their diets can have substantial benefi ts for physical and mental health [1]. Livestock's contribution to livelihoods, particularly those of the poor in developing countries is also well recognized. Livestock generate income by providing both food and non-food products that the household can sell in formal or informal markets. Livestock acquisition as a pathway out of poverty has been documented by Sasson [2] in western Kenya. In addition to their food security, human health, economic and environmental roles, livestock have important social and cultural roles. In many parts of Africa, social relationships are partly defi ned in relation to livestock, and the size of a household's livestock holding may confer considerable social important. The sharing of livestock with others is often a means to create or strengthen social relationships, through their use as dowry or bride price, as allocations to other family members and as loans [4]. Social status in livestock-based communities is often associated with leadership and access to natural, physical and fi nancial resources.
In Cameroon, the livestock sector represents about 9% of the total output and 2.1% of national GDP [5]. Animal production increased gradually between 1995 and 2006 making the sub sector a source of revenue to more than 30% of the rural Citation: Tambi  population. The categories of livestock reared include cattle, sheep, goats, pig, and poultry. Cattle contributes about 54% of the total meat consumed per inhabitant, while the proportion of sheep is 13%, goat is 14%, poultry is 17% and 15% for pig [1]. Although the contribution of livestock sub-sector to the national Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is in the lowest level, it has been a crucial source of high quality protein, minerals and vitamins to the population of North west region in particular and Cameroon as a whole. These proteins are milk, meat and eggs. For many smallholder farmers, livestock is a 'living bank' that serves as a fi nancial reserve for periods of economic distress [6].
Despite the importance of livestock to the population of the North West Region, the sector suffers from many challenges (i.e. diseases, high feeding cost, drought, price fl uctuation, bird fl u outbreak, theft, transhumance and its consequences, little or no livestock extension services) [4]. Bird Flu lastly hit the entire country in 2008 and caused actors in the sectors millions of FCFA as loss [5]. These challenges can lead to adversity or loss. For the livestock sector to play its rightful role in the agricultural sector in the North West region in particular and Cameroon as a whole, there is need to unlock the sector's potential. It is important to catalyze productivity, value addition, market access and trade through the identifi cation of the different constraints and possible technologies, solutions and management practices that can enhance productivity and Millions of the world's poor people rely on livestock for their livelihood, such as live animals, meat, milk, eggs, leather, fi ber, manure. However, livestock production, management and accessing the market with livestock products is a risky business. Farmers face a variety of price, yield and resource risks that make their incomes unstable and unpredictable from year to year. Animals may be destroyed by drought or new pest outbreaks, input costs may increase and product prices may plummet because of adjustments in the local or world market [4]. The livelihoods of breeders depend to a large extent on livestock production, and their access to formal fi nancial services is usually limited. Unless well-managed, livestock constraints and risks slow economic development and poverty reduction, and contribute to humanitarian crises [5].
Livestock production in communal areas in sub-Saharan Africa is constrained by a variety of factors. Feed shortages during the dry season constitute the greatest challenge in terms of quantity and quality [8]. According to Kassam [9], the main constraint is to increase livestock productivity and output is the lack of adequate supplies of good quality livestock feed in the dry season produced at a competitive cost and without jeopardizing household food security. Together with high incidences of diseases and mortality rates, feed shortages lead to low livestock productivity [8]. Unavailability of water is another common constraint. In some areas, water may be available but is of insuffi cient quality to support healthy growth and performance. Masikati [8] reported that water constraints were prevalent during the dry season, where animals had to walk distances of up to 14 km per day to access water. Water points are sometimes limited and large numbers of animals use the same points leading to high chances of spreading diseases and land degradation.
Muluh, et al. [4] pointed that the failure of government services could affect the veterinary health services. Other factors include poor housing, low soil fertility for forage production, and weak market chains for livestock and their products. These constraints are, however, within farmers' capacity to mitigate [8]. While the direct impacts of climate change on livestock disease over the next two to three decades may be relatively muted [10]. There are considerable gaps in knowledge on existing diseases of livestock and their relation to environmental factors. The aim of this study was therefore to catalogue the opportunities for increasing livestock production. The records may be supplemented and complemented by off farm information, forecasts, and predictions. But there is no substitute for farm record data. Livestock production and cost information generated by farm records refl ect the production capabilities of the specifi c assets controlled by the business.
The business management capability is also refl ected for both production and marketing aspects of the business. As such, this record information should provide insights into the actual production and price variability experienced by the farm business in the past [11].

Literature review
Livestock production entails rearing of farm animals e.g. cattle, sheep, poultry, goat, pig, rabbits, ducks) by an individual or group of people (Livestock farmers) for profi t making. In the production process the animals are usually confi ned in a particular area (animal farm) and bred through the application of skilled and unskilled management techniques. It should be observed that different livestock species have different ways of managing them thus highlighting good stockman ship as a prerequisite of livestock production. Livestock production can be intensive or extensive [4]. The intensive production is characterized by smaller number of herd sizes (number of animal on the farm), sometimes characterized by limited use of high production technology. The extensive production system with a higher number of population uses advanced production methods. Livestock production is a function of associated cost of production and more importantly the management system in place [12].
Small scale farms are more viable than larger farms. They have advantages in labour management over large farms so that economies of scale do not apply beyond the family farm.
Small holdings may be disadvantageous when facing mounting demands from buyers, supermarkets and exporters for quality, consistency, timeliness, volume and certifi cation of conditions of production. This could lead to the exclusion of small scale farmers from the market for higher value products [9]. In low income countries, traditional peasant agriculture tend to be characterized by low level utilization of certain resources, low levels of productivity, relatively high level of effi ciency in combining resources and enterprise. The resources commonly not used are capital and technology and these are not accessible to farmers in low development. According to Zeller [13] small holder farmers can have the following characteristics. Yields per hectare, production per person, and other measures of productivity tend to be low. Traditional farms tend to be poor but effi cient. Effi ciency measured by equating marginal returns to resources in alternative uses is high Zeller [13].
Citation: Tambi  Horses and asses are grazing species of relatively low economic importance. Accurate statistics on livestock production and marketing are not easy to obtain because of lack of an appropriate statistics collection system. Animal production has increased gradually between 2007 and 2016. This sub sector is a source of revenue to more than 30% of the rural population. Table 1

Research design, study population and sampling procedure
The study used a cross sectional survey in which data was collected from several points. These points composed of livestock-keeping households in Bamenda and its surrounding areas. Amongst others, the baseline survey covered aspects on household demographics, production practices, identifi cation of constraints to production and possible solutions, and management practices (feeding, watering, breeding and health provision).
The target population of the study was livestock farmers.
Using the google earth map, twenty urban and twenty periurban points were randomly selected based on settlement,

Data source, collection and analyzing technique
The following tools were used for data collection: The primary data from the sampled livestock farmers were collected through formal survey by using a structured questionnaire. The questionnaire was pre-tested before the main survey to check the relevance of questions and to determine whether it was comprehensive enough to collect the required information. The information focus on livestock ownership, priority species kept, purpose for keeping livestock, feeding management, animal health and main problems of livestock keeping. Secondary data were collected from the Divisional  Usually the sample size depends on the size of the population to be sampled although general rule were hard to make without knowledge of specifi c population The data obtained was summarized, coded, and analyzed by using Statistical Package for Social Sciences computer program version 20. Descriptive statistics was generated to represent respondents' opinions on various aspects of livestock production and these include frequencies, means, standard deviations, tables, pie chart, bar chart, cumulative frequencies and percentages.

Social economic characteristics of livestock farmers
These characteristics present socio economic aspects of respondents. Social economic characteristics have effects on the farmers' production decisions and resource allocation.
They determine human potential to produce and capacity to change production practices and technology in this everchanging social and economic environment [8]. Survey results in Figure 2 indicated that 13.8% of household heads members were aged between 20-35 years while 29.4% were 36-50 years old, 34.4% were 51-65 years and 22.5% were above 65 years old. The age of household head ranged from 23 years to a maximum of 90 years with the mean age of 53.6313 years old.
These fi ndings imply that majority of breeders fall between the age group of 51-65 years who are not energetic enough, as such capable to undertake livestock production activities. The age group of the livestock farmers infl uences livestock production very much. The activities associated with livestock production are less energy demanding but requires much experience as compared to other activities like cultivating crops. This explain why majority of breeders fall between the ages 51-65 years.
Balgah [14] urges that in total the accumulation of wealthy is highly dependent on age of an individual, whereby an indirect relationship is experienced. The interviewed livestock farmers in the study areas fall in economically non-productive class, which are dependents.
Furthermore, Figure 2 show that 89.4% of farmers were married and male headed, 10% singled and 0.6% was married.
Married respondents are expected to have children who determine the size of household family members anticipated to provide supplementary household labour for Irish potato production. However, when the household has more children than adults it means that the household has too many dependents and hence low economically productive class.
Balgah [14] reported that education is a factor of growth and productivity. The fi ndings indicated that 63.8% of interviewed farmers had primary education, 11.3% had secondary education, 8.8% attended high school, 13.1% degree holders and 3.1% attended no formal education. These fi ndings showed a typical characteristic of literacy common for family farm operators in  Figure 2 shows that 88.125% of farm land is private (owned by the household) and 11.875% is rented.

Management strategies on family farms for sustainability and food insecurity
Family members who take part in the management of the farm play a great role in the sustainability of family farms. Table 4 shows that 68.1% of family farms are managed by household heads, 29.9% by spouses, 4.4% by sons/daughters and 0.6% by others. Table 4 shows that 43.8% of households own two species of animals on farm, 36.3% own one specie on farm, 17.5% own three species, 1.9% own four species and 0.5% own fi ve and above. A result of 63.7% respondents who own at least two species on farm is a guarantee for the existence of the farm in case of a disease outbreak in any of the specie. Figure  2 shows that only 8.75% of livestock farmers keep records compared to 91.25% keep records. This is a big risk because past activities which were not successful have the possibility of repeating themselves Table 4.
Other management practices for sustainability on family farms include: household members who belong to Common Initiative Groups, years of experience of farm manager, constant monitoring of farm, own males on farm for breeding to reduce production cost and avoid diseases. Based on our analysis, we recommend that: information on innovations in livestock production should be made available to farmers to improve their production. Financial assistance should be given to the farmers to acquire farms inputs like feed, drugs, wheelbarrow, modern feeding and drinking trough and other materials for farming activities. Livestock farmers equally need to be encouraged by providing necessary assistance such as adequate training, appropriate technologies for production and good marketing system for their production.

Conclusion
Farmers should cultivate crops for their animals and compose their own feed for it will be less expensive.