Factors that influence pig production in Central Uganda- Case study of Nangabo Sub-County, Wakiso district

Aim: To study the factors affecting pig production in Nangabo Sub-County, Wakiso District, Central Uganda. Materials and Methods: A total of 11% (1350/12783) of all households in the Nangabo Sub-County kept pigs. The th systematic sampling technique was used to complete the list of all pig farming households. This was done by taking 10 farming household until 10% of all the farming households were sampled. A total of 135 farmers were interviewed with semistructured questionnaire. Questionnaire data was entered into Microsoft Excel worksheet and trans-ferred into Statistical Package for Social Scientists Results: Results indicated that 49.6 % of the pigs were raised in the semi-intensive system while 31%, 12% and 8% of the farmers kept pigs on intensive, tethering and free range rearing systems respectively. Farmers that raised their pigs on what is hereby referred to as semi-intensive and intensive management systems allowed their pigs up to five and two hours of open foraging respectively. Ninety eight percent of the farmers provided housing to their pigs and the commonest pig houses were local mud houses and a few of them were tree shades. Majority of farmers (85.2%) watered their pigs at least once a day. The major factors limiting pig production were; diseases and parasites mainly helminthosis and African swine fever (ASF). Others included; high costs of inputs, lack of capital, unstable availability of feed resources, inadequate advisory services and feed price fluctuation (maize bran, sow and weaner), lack of good quality breeding stock, poor and unorganized marketing, lack of enough land, high costs of veterinary medicines and inability to keep records. Additionally, lack of enough water and uncontrolled pig movement grossly limited the pig production in Wakiso district. Most Ugandans keep their pigs in periurban areas of Uganda. It was however, noted that there were important limitations for pig production in the country. To improve pig production and reduce animal protein deficit, knowledge on constraints to pig production was important to inform pig sector promotion stakeholders. Conclusion: Limitations to pig farming including parasites and diseases, ASF, nutritional deficiencies, high cost of inputs like building materials, drugs and veterinary services, inadequate capital and failure of farmers to access credit services, expensive feeds among others were identified and should be addressed to meet national animal protein requirements.


Introduction
deficit.This is especially so because of pigs' high fecundity rate, high feed conversion efficiency, early Since 1971 the volume of pork consumed has steadily maturity, short generation interval, relatively small increased in developing and developed countries.This space requirement and their ability to produce increase has been remarkably (up to 70%) high in maximally under varied management systems without developing countries [1,2].As a result pork has sophisticated biosafety measures [4].recently been quoted to be the most popular source of The government of Uganda under the poverty animal protein in the world [1].The World Health eradication plan (PEAP) and the modernization of organization (WHO) report for developing countries Agriculture through National Agricultural Advisory indicates that there is a very big deficit in the supply of Services (NAADS) framework has recently been animal protein with 6.1 million Ugandans malpromoting the pig industry having realized its potential nourished and 40% of children deaths below the age of for poverty eradication and quick animal protein five due to malnourishment [3].A well managed pig provision to the most disadvantaged communities of industry would bridge such glaring animal protein Uganda.Despite these efforts, Uganda's livestock Wakiso District, Central Uganda, we administered a sector grows at a dismal rate of 4% with only 3.2 semi-structured questionnaire designed to capture million pigs in the whole country of approximately 33 limitations that had previously been raised in central million people [5].Most of these pigs are kept around districts Veterinary officers' workshop on pig towns in central Uganda.
production in central Uganda.The questionnaire was We therefore set out to explore some of the pre-tested before use to improve the questions there in factors that farmers considered as the most important and optimise the responses that could be captured upon limitations for pig production in a typical peri-urban its use.Participant observations were; pig housing, pig environment where most Ugandan pigs are kept.Such feeding, management system, feed ingredients and knowledge is deemed important in informing pig other pig farming practices.These observations were sector promotion actors in order to improve pig compared with questionnaire answers so as to keep them production and reduce animal protein deficit.
consistent.Some informal interviews were also carried out

Materials and Methods
to get in-depth understanding of farmers' limitations to pig Study area: This study was carried out in Wakiso production especially with regard to parameters such district located in central Uganda.The district surrounds as availability of advisory services, market infra-Kampala, the capital of Uganda, and boarders Mukono structure, availability of feed stuffs, feed stuff price in the East, Mubende and Mpigi districts in the West, fluctuations and micro financing.One hundred and Luwero district in the North and Kalangala district in thirty five (135) semi-structured questionnaires were the South.Formerly part of Mpigi District, it came into completed by all selected pig keeping households.existence in 2000, when the 3 counties of Mpigi District-

Socio-demographic characteristics of farmers:
Sampling flame and sampling strategy: A complete Questionnaires were administered to 135 farmers, list of pig farming households was obtained from 62% (84/135) of whom were males and 38% (51/135) Nangabo Sub-county.A total of 11% (1350/12783) of females.Most of the farmers were above 23 years of households in the Sub-county kept pigs.Systematic age and at least had a Uganda secondary education sampling technique was used to complete the list of all exposure (Table 1).Of the 135 farmers, 44.4% were pig farming households.This was done by taking the full time farmers, 25.2% public servants, 22.2% had th 10 farming household until 10% of all the farming other private businesses while 8.1% were students.households were sampled.
95% of the pig farmers kept pigs to generate income while 5% kept pigs for home consumption.Of the from other sources into their herds right away.As a benchmark of the current production performance A range of management systems were observed of the pig sector in Nangabo Sub County, we observed in Nangabo Sub County ranging from tethering to the current breeds kept and the average litter size at intensive management where commercial feeds were furrowing.The most dominant pig breed type were provided and pigs were housed all the time (Table 3).cross breeds of Local Ugandan breeds with Landrace Pigs were housed in local mud and wattle houses, tree and large white.Cross breeds constituted 67.4% of the shades, and conventional tropical pig houses with half pigs in the farms visited while farms keeping pure sold wall made of bricks, sand and cement with the Exotic landrace or large white constituted 28.1%, 4.4% upper part made of wire mesh and roofed with of all the pig farms visited respectively.On average colligated iron sheets.All pigs were housed in either of litter size at furrowing for the 135 farms visited were the housing types.About 28% (38/135) of the farmers between 6-10 piglets (Table 2).
only kept pigs while 72% (97/135) kept other food animals including goats, poultry and cattle in that order.

Assessment of pig production systems and
The majority of respondents 59% (80/135) fed limitations to pig production: On average most their pigs on cassava, potatoes and crop residues (96%) farmers received veterinary services 1-3 times a (sweet potato vines, banana peelings).Twenty four month.A few farmers (4%) consulted veterinary service percent of all pig farmers (33/135) fed their pigs providers at least once a week.
grasses like Pennisetum purpureum, Commelina Seventy five percent (103/135) of the farmers banghalensis, and Biden pilosa while 16% (22/135) of reported to have experienced pig disease challenges the farmers fed their pigs on ruminal contents from the while the rest didn't have any disease occurrence problem.local abattoirs.Ninety four percent (127/135) of the Of those who experienced pig disease problems at their farmers provided feeds to pigs one to two times a day.farms 58.5% (57/103) of them, consulted veterinarians Only eight farmers (6%) provided their pigs with feeds for professional help while the rest used local plant adlibitum.None of the farmers used only commercial extracts (herbs) or did nothing to the sick pigs.
feeds.Eighty seven percent of the interviewed farmers Majority 55% (74/135) of the farmers got their (115/132) watered their pigs at least once in a day.breeding stock from other farmers.Two percent Only 15% (20/135) of the inter-viewed farmers did not (3/135) of the farmers got their replacement stock provide water for their pigs.from their own parent stock while 43% (58/135) got Constraints to pig production: There were several their replacement stock in form of gifts.About 55% production limitations that were identified by farmers (73/132) of the farmers who got replacement stock and these parasitic diseases, helminthosis, cysticercosis, drugs and uncontrolled pig movement in that order of African swine fever (ASF) and nutritional deficiencies significance.manifesting as stuntedness and poor growth rates.
In Wakiso district, a sizable population (44.4%)Contagious diseases like ASF were more of a problem is involved in pig farming as a full time job.They on farms that did not house their pigs implying an market live pigs (adults and piglets) or slaughter the association with uncontrolled pig movement while pigs and sell pork.The central region pig farmers nutritional deficiencies were reported and observed to therefore have a general pig production cycle of be a problem on farms that majorly fed their pigs on buying piglets either to fatten them for sale or to finish grasses and other plant residues.Commercial feeds them for breeding purposes with the majority (95%) were not used because of the high cost, especially aiming at generating income.Only 5% of the farmers maize bran.Other constraints included high cost of kept pigs for home consumption.This was supported inputs like pig house building materials, drugs and by the observation that both sexes and all age groups veterinary services, the cost of improved breeds like kept pigs indicated that if limitations to pig production large white, landrace and Cambrough.Farmers in central region were reduced, the enterprise could be indicated that it was hard for them to access loans from source of employment and livelihood to most of the commercial banks since farming was perceived as a farmers in central region.Seventy six percent (103/ high risk business.About 15% (20/135) of the farmers 135) of the farmers had at least a Uganda certificate of interviewed did not provide pigs with water because of education indicating that there could be quick water scarcity (Figure 1).adoption of better technologies for pig production if

Discussion
different promoters of pig production start promoting good practices in pig production like disease control, Pig production in the tropics has been recommhousing, feeding and breeding technologies.ended as a likely solution to animal protein deficiency Parasites and diseases ranging from helminthes and as a tool to fighting poverty in the tropics [8].
to highly contagious and infectious diseases like Uganda Government under the PEAT and NAADS has African swine fever continue to devastate the pig industry also been keenly promoting pig production for the same in Africa [9,10,11].The current study indicates that reasons.The limitations to pig production were parasites and helminthes were also a problem in parasites and diseases, high cost of inputs, inadequate Wakiso District, Central Uganda an indication that capital input, expensive feeds as a result of erratic feed future plans for improvement of this industry should supply associated with price fluctuation, inadequate take care of this problem.One such a strategy to advisory services, lack of good quality breeding stock, reducing parasites and diseases and enhancing poor and unorganized marketing, expensive veterinary productivity would be to improve husbandry practices Uganda.This was supported by the fact that about 20% while harnessing local situation in the affected areas. of farmers were not able to access loans.

Improvement of husbandry practices would practically
The bulk of the carbohydrate and protein content reduce the incidence of most infectious / contagious of pig and poultry feeds were made from maize, soya diseases and helminthes that are spread from bean and fish.Unfortunately, these were also sources scavenging pigs [4].
of carbohydrate and protein to humans.This would Unrestricted pig movement was reported as one necessitate a big surplus of these ingredients if they are of the problems the farmers' face in Wakiso district, to be incorporated in animal feeds.Contrary there Uganda and this was linked to the periodic surges in were no such a big surplus of maize, soya bean and fish all the year around that could be incorporated in disease out breaks during informal interviews with animal feeds.The animal feed supplies were therefore farmers.The words intensive and semi-intensive erratic with highest carbohydrate and protein surpluses management (Table 3) were conservatively used to available in harvesting season and least available in mean that pigs were housed for more than four hours a dry off-harvest seasons.Expensive feeds as a result of day and given supplementary feeding during hours of erratic feed supply associated with price fluctuation all confinement.Much as we have indicated (Table 3) that make pig production a some what expensive venture up to 80% (108/135) of all the farmers were for the small holder pig farmers not only in Wakiso intensively or semi-intensively managing their pigs, in district but also in other African countries [12].practice these pigs were let out for two (Intensive) to Feeds are the single most expensive input in pig five (semi-intensive) hours to forage and returned in production in Uganda because pigs compete with their pens at night.As such there was no farmer who humans for maize, soybean and fish as the main kept their pigs in total confinement.Therefore, sources of carbohydrates and proteins for both humans advocating for total pig confinement would reduce the and pigs.Recent changes in weather conditions incidence of diseases like African Swine fever, characterized by prolonged droughts have resulted in cysticercosis and helminthosis that have for long prices for protein and carbohydrate sources for pigs devastated the African pig industry [4].The problem and poultry increasing to up to threefold.In extreme of diseases in Wakiso district could be exacerbated by cases the pig industry has seen a complete shortage of the fact that most farmers (55%; 74/135) obtained protein and carbohydrate sources there by causing replacement stock from other farms either in form of some farmers to disband their farms.gifts or bought from such farms and they didn't isolate The NAADS has taken a fore role in Agricultural them before mixing them with the rest of their pig advisory service provision in Uganda [13].Despite herds.
this there are still very many areas peri-urban and High cost of inputs like corrugated iron sheets, purely rural which do not have readily available cement and other building materials were indicated as extension workers.This partly due to recent changes in the reason why not all the farmers had houses for pigs.
the Agricultural advisory services frame work For this reason other farmers opted to keep their pigs in involving converting of all the Central Agricultural tree shades, tethered them or built houses out of locally Advisory service providers into NAADS and the available cheap building materials like reeds, mud and uncertainty to their career development and job grass thatched them.Unfortunately pigs could easily security associated with the said change.Poor pay that escape from such enclosures and roam around results into these service providers taking on their own increasing the likelihood of disease transmission and private enterprises and devoting less time to destruction of crops.agricultural advisory service provision would as well Inadequate capital input was one of the reasons be the other reason why they don't devote all their time why farmers indicated that they could not afford to Agricultural service provision.This might explain housing pigs in permanent easy-to -disinfect houses why despite NAADS services being in place in Wakiso because their capital investment could not afford them district farmers still don't get adequate agricultural such building materials.This was exercabated by the advisory services.fact that most lending commercial institutions Lack of good quality breeding stock was regarded farming as a very high risk business in highlighted as a limitation to pig in Nangabo sub Uganda making it hard for farmers to access loans.county, Wakiso District.This has also been reported to This situation was further complicated by the fact that be a problem to Kenyan pig farmers [14].The Uganda farmers didn't have collateral investments/property to pig industry largely depends on indigenous breeds use to get loans from the microfinance institutions in

Table - 1. Farmer distribution by age and education level
piglets, live adults and pork depending on the market from other farms or as gifts isolated them before mixing them with the rest of the herd.Forty five available.percent(59/132) of the farmers mixed pigs obtainedBreed types and production performance measure: