The Zemstaaba Provincial Union of Small Ruminant Breeders of Namentenga received on Friday, October 18, 2024 in Boulsa, during a guided tour, in its plot of 9 fodder species of more than one ha, other organizations with the same objectives. The guided tour was facilitated by the USAID/Yidgiri project.
“The essential element of livestock farming is feed. It is aware of the difficulties that cooperatives encounter in this area linked to the scarcity of pasture areas that USAID/Yidigri supports them in fodder production for their animals,” said the small ruminant value chain advisor for the USAID/Ydgiri project, Inès Ouédraogo/Zio.
For Ms. Ouédraogo, fodder constitutes a source of substantial income for producers’ households.
The president of the cooperative, Elisabeth Bembamba, presented to the visitors each of the 9 fodder species, their scientific names, their applied cultivation techniques and their yield per hectare.
During the discussions after the visit, she said that more than 10 tons are expected a
nd these will be able to feed a hundred small ruminants for 3 or 4 months. Elisabeth also indicated that in 2023, the cooperative harvested 10 tons of fodder.
According to him, to complete the normal 6-month fattening cycle, the cooperative used industrial agricultural by-products (SPAI).
“We made profits ranging from 600,000 to 1.5 million CFA francs,” she said. “I am amazed by what I saw. I want to do the same but the question of land arises,” confided a visitor.
The technique of harvesting fodder seed was demonstrated to visitors. The president of the cooperative, Elisabeth Bembamba thanked the USAID/Yidgiri project for its support and the visitors for their interest in fodder production activities.
Mrs. Bembamba called on people of good will to come and help the cooperative with a water tower to solve the water problem.
Let us also remember that the farm is protected from animals by a concrete block enclosure wall.
Source: Burkina Information Agency