Swidiq Mugerwa

National Agricultural Research Organization:National Livestock Resources Research Institute · Livestock Nutrition Research Program

The greatest limitation to utilization of maize stover by ruminants as a feed is the high concentration of lignin, which limits fibre digestibility. However, ruminants can effectively utilize maize stover if its nutritive value is improved using white rot fungal species. This study was designed to determine optimal bio-physical conditions for mycel...

Aflatoxin is a collective term for a group of toxic and carcinogenic secondary metabolites produced by some strains of Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus parasiticus during growth, on feeds and foods. The fungal spores are found worldwide, in air and soil, and infest both living and dead plants and animals. An experiment was conducted to investigat...

This study was conducted in four districts in Lango sub region of Northern Uganda. A total of 320 households (HH) from 32 villages (eight villages from each district) were included in the study. The objectives were to assess the flock characteristics, production, productivity and related constraints of village chicken production in Lango sub region...

This review is an analysis of the dimensions of termite infestation in African savannas. The aim of this work is to draw the attention of ecologists, conservationists, policy makers and farmers to the current and future threats of subterranean termites to the functioning and sustainability of such ecosystem habitats. This study analyzes and describ...

Located in central Uganda, the grasslands of Nakasongola face devastation of herbaceous vegetation by subterranean termites. Reduction in the preferred food of termites (plant litter), and loss of their natural predators and parasites are known to be major factors contributing to the damage imposed by termites on grassland vegetation. This review a...

Reducing malnutrition among children and pregnant mothers is a challenge to many development workers. One of the approaches is to improve production and increase availability of milk. With the ever-increasing human population, however, land holding per household is on the decline and, therefore, conventional dairy production is becoming more diffic...

The productivity, sustainability and ecological integrity of grassland ecosystems in Uganda is hugely threatened by the alarming levels of ecosystem degradation attributed mainly to anthropogenic activities. Mitigating grassland degradation in Uganda requires adequate understanding of both the primary and secondary drivers of grassland degradation....

Multi-nutrient mineral blocks are lick blocks containing energy, protein, vitamins, minerals and other nutrients. The feeding of the blocks is a convenient and inexpensive method of providing a range of nutrients required by both the rumen microbes and the animal, which may be deficient in the diet. Strategic ruminant supplementation is one of the...

The demand for high quality forage seed for development of livestock feed resources is increasing rapidly in Uganda. This demand is fuelled by the expanding beef and dairy production occasioned by the increased demand from rising population and improved income particularly in the urban centres. Availability of adequate and good quality forage seed...

Drylands cover 44% of Uganda and hold up to 90% of the country’s livestock herd. The drylands of Uganda interface with climatic variability; in particular drought and flood events often produce debilitating effects. Karamoja sub-region is an important livestock dependent community that accounts for 20% of the national livestock herd. The Karamojong...

Herbage availability during the wet season often exceeds animal requirements; however the accumulated forage becomes coarse and loses most of its nutritive value with maturity. The excess herbage harvested at optimum nutritive value could be conserved as silage for dry season feeding when pasture is very scarce so as to sustain milk production.

Abstract Poor nutrition has been identified as a major constraint to productivity in smallholder dairy farming households in Uganda, particularly in Lake Victoria Crescent Agro-ecological Zone (LVZ). Clarification on nutritional potential of crop residues is central to formulation of sustainable dairy cattle nutrition strategies. Data were coll...

Pastoralists’ planning and response to droughts in Buliisa and Nakasongola Districts through utilization of weather forecast information, herd and feed resources management was examined. Semi-structured questionnaires were administered to 100 respondents and the responses were used to compute percentages, generate graphs and charts using XLSTAT (20...

Livestock feed fluctuations in quality and quantity is a major constraint to dairy cattle production in Uganda, particularly, in smallholder dairy cattle production. Studies on prioritizing agro-industrial by-products in dairy cattle feeding are central to formulation of sustainable feed management strategies. This study was thus conducted to inves...

Smallholder dairy farming is increasingly becoming an important source of livelihoods for small scale dwellers in Lake Victoria agro-ecological Zone (LVZ) in Uganda. A study was carried out in Buikwe, Jinja and Mayuge Districts in LVZ of Uganda, with the objective of characterizing smallholder dairy farming. A total of 126 smallholder dairy farmers...

The rangelands of Uganda used to be historically managed under traditional systems where grazers had open access with mobility as a main coping strategy to drought. Changes in land ownership, increased population and demand for food and fuel have led to changes in land use and cover types, affecting livestock management practices. This study assess...

The productivity of smallholder crop-livestock production systems in Eastern and Central Africa is threatened by adverse effects of climate change; with severe consequences on livestock feeds, water and household livelihoods. A project was implemented in Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania and Burundi during 2009-2011, to promote utilisation of drought toleran...

Economically feasible strategies for year-round feed supply to dairy cattle are needed to improve feed resource availability, milk yield and household income for the smallholder dairy farming systems that predominate in the rural Eastern and Central African region. Currently, Napier grass (Pennisetum purpureum) is the major forage in zero-grazing p...

Key message Primary RWM goals must include:Restoration, maintenance and optimally distributed biomass reserves (C) among agroecosystem components; Allocation of rainwater to enable production and maintenance of agroecosystem structure and function; ITM is one of numerous entry points

Drought Crop Floods Livestock Pasture Located in northeast Uganda, the Karamoja sub-region suffers from chronic poverty and has the worst development indicators in the country. The region is mostly arid and as agricultural production is reliant on rainfall, frequent and severe droughts often lead to crop failure, reduced livestock populations, and...

Seasonal water fluctuations both in quality and quantity negatively affect livestock production and subsequently reduce livestock-water productivity (LWP) in rainfed pastoral production systems. This study aimed at assessing the effects of improved catchment and surface water management on LWP and to establish whether the effects of integrated catc...

The indigenous Alestes baremoze is one of the fishes endemic to Lake Albert. In this study, the maturity stages of ovaries from 100 A.baremoze fish collected from Lake Albert were determined. Maturity condition was assessed by macroscopic inspection of gonads and histological methods. Macroscopic inspection was based on alterations in ovary size an...

The study evaluated the environmental effects of various climate smart agricultural interventions (CSAI) in the smallholder production systems of Uganda. Soil fertility management interventions improved soil pH, soil nitrogen, organic matter, earthworm density and microbial biomass by 8, 55, 94, 130 and 44.2% respectively. Installation of roof-top...

Smallholder dairy farming systems dominate in the peri-urban and rural areas in Eastern and Central African region, employ over 70% of the region’s population and contribute 70–90% of the total meat and milk output in the region. Small-scale dairy production plays a crucial role in food security, human health and overall household livelihoods, part...

One hundred fifty day-old commercial broiler chicks were reared in six groups with each group containing 25 chicks. The chicks were maintained on two diets namely BSA: broiler starter feed containing 25-35 ppb of aflatoxin and BSB: broiler starter feed containing 25-35 ppb of aflatoxin+0.5% Ugandan bentonite (UB). After three weeks, broiler starter...

The indigenous Alestes baremoze is one of the fishes endemic to Lake Albert. In this study, the maturity stages of ovaries from 100 A.baremoze fish collected from Lake Albert were determined. Maturity condition was assessed by macroscopic inspection of gonads and histological methods. Macroscopic inspection was based on alterations in ovary size an...

The LIFE-SIM models were used to estimate methane emissions from cows maintained under different feeding strategies. Feeding strategies with adequate protein requirements led to production of more milk and also increased methane emissions. The amount of methane produced per kilogram of milk was lowest in feeding strategy that involved supplementing...

In the recent past, dairy farming has increasingly become an important source of livelihoods for urban and peri-urban dwellers in Eastern and Central Africa. A study was carried out on dairy cattle farming in peri-urban areas of Machakos and Wote towns in the semi-arid region of Kenya and in Masaka, a peri-urban area in the sub-humid region of cent...

Landsat (TM) of 1986 and 1990 and Landsat (ETM+) of 2000 and 2004 for Nakasongola district were obtained and analyzed using the ILWIS 3.6 software using unsupervised classification. An overlay analysis of satellite images was conducted in order to understand the patterns of land use and cover change. Cultivation, coniferous plantations, bush and wo...

The extent of utilization of crop residues and agro-industrial by-products and the socio-economic constraints limiting their integration in crop- livestock production feeding systems in three agro-ecological zones (Lake Victoria Basin, Western Rangelands and the Eastern Semi-Arid Zone) of Uganda were examined. Data were collected from 150 randomly...

Elucidation of factors influencing utilization of introduced forages is critical in formulation of interventions to foster their integration into smallholder dairy production systems. The study sought to identify introduced forages cultivated by farmers and the socio-economic factors influencing their preference and adoption in Masaka, Mityana and...

The contribution of various pasture restoration techniques in enhancing livestock water productivity on degraded bare surfaces was examined. Six treatments were studied- Fencing plus manuring (FM), Fencing only (FO), Fencing plus reseeding (FR), Fencing + manure left on soil surface + reseeding (FMSR), Fencing + Manure incorporated in to the soil +...

Lablab purpureus is an important forage legume in smallholder crop-livestock systems of East and Central Africa. Seed yields of L. purpureus are generally low owing to limited phosphorus levels in most soils. Amendment of soil with phosphorus fertilizers is thus critical in enhancing lablab seed production. The objective of this study was to invest...

Efficient utilization of animal manures is critical in sustaining productivity and profitability of smallholder crop-livestock production systems. However, adoption of particular manure application regimes would only be possible if the recommended regimes make economic sense to farmers whose major objective is usually to generate incomes. An on-far...

Elucidating the influence of ecological factors on composition and foraging intensity of subterranean termites is critical in development of sustainable termite management strategies. Our aim was therefore to analyze the effect of selected biotic and abiotic factors on composition and foraging intensity of termites. We used principal component and...

Infestation and destruction of rangeland vegetation by subterranean termites is a major constraint to livestock production in the rangelands of Uganda, particularly, in semi-arid Nakasongola. Ethno-ecological studies on termite dynamics are central to formulation of sustainable termite management strategies in such ecosystems. This study was thus c...

Termites are regarded as the primary cause of vegetation denudation in semi-arid Nakasongola, Uganda. Despite their damage to ecosystem functioning, there have been little efforts devoted to the description of the termite assemblage structure in the area. The study therefore intended to describe the termite assemblage structure with the intension t...

Infestation and destruction of rangeland vegetation by subterranean termites is a major constraint to livestock production in the rangelands of Uganda, particularly, in semi-arid Nakasongola. Ethnoecological studies on termite dynamics are central to formulation of sustainable termite management strategies in such ecosystems. This study was thus co...

A modified-Whittaker sampling design was used to collect soil samples in three land cover types (bare, herbaceous and woody) under three production systems (settled, semi-settled and non-settled) and analyzed for selected chemical (pH, OC, OM, N, Ca, Mg, K, Na, CEC and available Phosphorus) and physical (bulk density, porosity, conductivity, struct...

The ‘cattle corridor’ is generally too dry for crop production and suffers from land degradation caused by overgrazing and indiscrimate harvesting of trees for charcoal burning. Drinking water is seasonally scarce forcing farmers to migrate with their animals to the Nile. Makerere University established a study site in Kiruhura and Nakasongola dist...

Uganda’s rangelands are seriously degraded due to overgrazing, which causes loss of vegetation cover and soil erosion. Consequently, soils have low levels of nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, and soil organic matter (SOM). Low SOM eventually increases the destructive effects of termites on pasture. Under such conditions, water is used inefficiently...

The effects of upper catchment management and water plants on water quantity and quality in two Ugandan pastoral communities were investigated. The objective was to assess effects of land and livestock management on water resources and livestock water productivity. Water quality and quantity in valley tanks were monitored. Results indicate that upp...