Abstract:
A study was conducted in Gode district of Somali Regional state, with the objectives of
generating baseline information and the effect of season of the feed resources, to identify the
quality and quantity of feed resource and identify the coping strategies adopted by pastoralists
and agro-pastoralists during drought. The study was undertaken in seven purposely selected
Rural Kebeles (RK’s) of the study area based on accessibilities of the road, population size and
feed resource availability. The surveyed household heads (140) were selected randomly from
RKs in equal proportion. Samples of feed were collected from the RKs during the wet and dry
season for chemical analysis. The most important feed resources in the study area are grazing
pasture, crop residue, browsing species, improved forages and supplementation. The DM
content of samples forage was 86 and 93% and that of CP content was 15 and 7% in wet and
dry seasons, respectively. The fiber content of the feed samples was lower in the wet as
compared to the dry season. The main constraints related to livestock production in the area
were feed shortages followed by disease, water scarcity, poor market and problem of
predators. Drought impacts feed supply and livestock productivity in general. Mobility, feed
conservation, supplementation, livestock species diversification, the sale of livestock and
enclosing pasturelands for lactating and weak animals are the main coping strategies
practiced during drought. In general there is low feed resource conservation and utilization
and very poor traditional communal grazing land management system. As a result, the
livestock population seriously suffers from the critical feed shortage especially during the long
dry season. Thus, in order to improve livestock production and productivity, problems related
to livestock feed and feed systems should be solved through proper management of the feed
resources, adoption of improved forage technologies and feed conservation techniques.
