IGCSE Agriculture

Common livestock in Botswana

Cattle, goats, sheep, pigs, and poultry (chickens) are the main livestock kept by farmers in Botswana. Cattle are the most economically important, providing beef, milk, hides, and draught power for ploughing; owning cattle also carries social and cultural value in many Botswana communities, historically used for dowry (bogadi) and as a measure of wealth. Goats are popular with smallholder farmers because they're cheaper to keep, tolerate dry conditions well, and reach market size faster than cattle.

Why farmers keep livestock

• Food — meat, milk, and eggs for the household and for sale.
• Income — live animals, meat, milk, wool, and hides can all be sold.
• Draught power — oxen are still used to pull ploughs and carts on many farms.
• Manure — animal waste is used to fertilise crop fields.
• Social and cultural value — cattle in particular are used for bogadi (dowry) and other customary purposes.

Basic livestock care

Whatever the animal, good management practices repeat across species:

• Feeding — animals need enough good-quality feed and clean water daily; underfed animals grow slowly and produce less milk or meat.
• Housing — kraals, pens, or shelters protect animals from bad weather, predators, and theft.
• Vaccination and deworming — done on a regular schedule to prevent disease and parasites before they become a problem, rather than only treating animals once they're already sick.
• Record keeping — farmers track births, vaccinations, feeding, and sales so they can make good decisions about the herd.

Common livestock diseases

A few diseases come up repeatedly in Botswana exam papers because they're genuinely significant to local farmers:

• Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) — a highly contagious viral disease affecting cattle and other cloven-hoofed animals; symptoms include blisters on the mouth and feet, excessive salivation, and lameness. Outbreaks lead to movement restrictions and quarantine of affected areas.
• Foot rot — a bacterial infection of the hoof, common in wet conditions, causing lameness and swelling.
• Newcastle disease — a serious viral disease in poultry, causing respiratory distress, twisted necks, and high death rates in a flock if not vaccinated against.

Prevention generally follows the same pattern regardless of the disease: regular vaccination, isolating and quarantining sick animals from the rest of the herd, restricting the movement of visitors and animals between farms, and keeping housing clean and disinfected.