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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:Cattle husbandry in the Nyae-Nyae (Bushmanland)
Author:Van Rooyen, P.H.ISNI
Year:1991
Periodical:Journal - Namibia Scientific Society
Volume:43
Pages:107-116
Language:English
Notes:biblio. refs., ills.
Geographic terms:Namibia
Southern Africa
Subjects:San
agricultural projects
animal husbandry
Agriculture, Agronomy, Forestry
Cattle production
Nyae-Nyae (Namibia)
Abstract:The Nyae-Nyae Development Foundation (NNDF, formerly Ju/hoan Development Foundation) has as its main objective the development of the Ju/hoan people in eastern Bushmanland, Namibia. The economic programme of the NNDF includes a cattle husbandry project which was started in 1981. The idea was to establish cattle posts at all the settled villages by handing out cattle to individual Ju/hoansi. These could then be used for farming and in order to improve the villagers' diet through the availability of milk and milk products and occasional slaughtering. Today, however, the cattle husbandry project is in danger of complete failure due to several causes. No effort was made to select cattle for milk production, adaptability or tractability. All cattle bought were high-quality meat-producing breeds, mostly Brahman and Afrikaner types. No effort was made to crossbreed or to improve desirable traits such as fertility or milk yield. In the absence of proper stockades farmers experienced problems in controlling their cattle. No effort was made to herd the cattle and few farmers managed to milk their cows. The size and unstable disposition of the cattle instilled fear rather than affinity. Moreover, many cattle losses were the result of predation by lions and the indiscriminate slaughtering of reproductive cattle. Bibliogr., sum. in German.
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