Government urges women and youths to participate in forage production
By Gloria Siwisha SMALLHOLDER farmers in rural parts of the country often face difficulties in providing enough food for their livestock especially during the long dry periods of the year when there is a decline in both quantity and quality of livestock food or forage. This is mainly attributed to the limited information and skills in the production of forage or fodder for livestock, as well as, the economical utilisation of these products. As a result, there is usually chronic nutritional stress on grazing livestock that in turn leads to reduced productivity and incomes from the sale of such animals. For this reason, the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock, through the Enhanced Smallholder Livestock Investment Programme (E-SLIP), has embarked on the ‘sustainable forage and forage seed production and utilization programme’ among smallholder farmers across the country. The programme targets to reach 80,000 smallholder farmers and aims at addressing the need for them to correctly feed t