“I had 40 cows and 25 remained after the drought that hit our village, thanks SAT for starting to bring us a hay baling innovation which we see potential to improve our livestock and provide feed in times of scarcity,” says Kitaliti Mwanduja (above), a pastoralist from Kichangani area in Vianzi Village, Mvomero District, Morogoro.
Well known for its innovative approach, SAT’s Farmers and Pastoralists Collaboration (FPC) project supported by Biovision Foundation and Liechtensteiner Entwinklungsdienst (LED) saw the potential of harvesting grass and storing it for use during the dry season. This practice is done mostly for grass which becomes inedible at maturity, it is sustainably harvested, dried and stored locally. The hay will be used in periods of drought.
Madumba Kosianga, a pastoralist from Kichangani who lost 20 out of his 30 cattlein the last drought , adds: “When the rains have fallen and there is pasture, I collect as much as I can and then store it in bales to prepare for the dry season. This will save me the long and dangerous journey in search of pasture”. He is now working hard to collect feed for his cattle.
“This innovative technique of cutting and baling hay is new and well received as a form of climate change adaptation, where worsening droughts have increased the length and uncertainty of migrations to find pasture, and at times led to worsening conflict over scarce water and grass,” says Madumba.