The name is absent

83

3.3^Ta^ble : Percentage of total commercial farm units cultivated by farm size, 191 7-88

Source: Commercial Farm Series data, 1987-88.

C. Livestock grazing utilization

Land not in crop production, parks, or forests is not necessarily idle, due to the possibility
of livestock grazing. Table 3.4 recapitulates data on net total land area from table 3.1 and cultivated
area from table 3.2. In addition, it provides data on the number of cattle held reported in the
1984-1985 commercial farm and noncommercial farm series. Jeanes (1986) gives grazing
requirements (per head of cattle) under a wide range of agroclimatic and farm management conditions
based on a synthesis of research. One head requires 5-8 hectares on munga woodland in upland areas
receiving less than 1,000 mm rainfall, and 6-10 in wetter areas. On dambo land (ranging from
palatable grasses and legumes to sedges), grazing requirements range from 4-8 ha/head depending on
soil acidity. Grazing rates under improved management on upland pasture range from 1-7 ha/head
depending on topography and intensity of forage management. Rough grazing rates in valley areas
range from 4-12 ha/head, 8-16 ha/head in Kalahari sand areas, and 4-8 ha/head in floodplain areas.

Based on these estimates, rates of grazing intensity (i.e., percentage of net land not in forests,
parks, lakes, game management areas, or crops that is used for livestock grazing) are calculated for
three hypothetical stocking rates—12 ha/head for low stocking, 8 ha/head for medium stocking, and
4 ha/head for high stocking. Lusaka, the second most densely settled province, and Southern province,
the heart of the commercial farming sector with the highest land use efficiency (table 1.5), have high
levels of grazing utilization, as expected, even without excluding the normal 5-15 percent of land area
that is usually taken up by roads, buildings, and wasteland. However, Copperbelt province, with the
highest population density nationwide and with substantial land in commercial production, has a very
low grazing intensity even at a very conservative grazing requirement of 12 ha/head. Other provinces
have very low rates of grazing intensity (less than 14 percent at 12 ha/head), in particular, Luapula,
Northern, and North-Western provinces. Thus, there appears to be a great deal of variation in the
degree to which potential grazing areas are in fact grazed. It would be speculative to state a priori that
issuing leaseholds to newcomers or opening new stands runs the risk of displacing livestock herders
due to the very aggregate nature of the data examined. Yet it would be equally negligent to assume
that open areas are "idle" and can be brought into crop, residential, game ranching, or livestock use
without the risk of displacing current stockholders, particularly in Eastern, Lusaka, and Southern
provinces.

<<   <   91   92   93   94   95   96   97   >   >>