Herders perception on fodder availability

The results of herders’ ranking of the fodder plants on an average herding day generally, is presented in Figure 5.8 whilst the details of trends across the communities are presented in Figure 5.9 (a- d). All herders ranked A. africana and K. senegalensis as very rare species. A majority (71%) of the herders’ ranked P. erinaceus as rare. B. aegyptiaca (86%) and S. spinosa (82%) were perceived as being average in encounter, while T. indica (84%) was ranked as fairly common by the respondents.

Figure 5.8 Rarity ranking of fodder plants in Yankari Game Reserve, Nigeria. Common = > 50 (No data); fairly common = 30 - 50; average = 20 - 30; rare = 10 – 20; very rare = < 10 A. africana = Afzelia africana; P. erinaceus = Ptericarpus erinaceus; S. spinosa =Strychnos spinosa; B. aegyptiaca = Balanites aegyptiaca; K. senegalensis = Khaya Senegalensis; T. indica = Tamarindus indica

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Figure 5.9 (a – f): Rarity ranking of fodder plants in the local communities surrounding Yankari Game Reserve, Nigeria. Common = > 50; fairly common = 30 - 50; average = 20 - 30; rare = 10 – 20; very rare = < 10. A. africana = Afzelia africana; P. erinaceus = Ptericarpus erinaceus; S. spinosa =Strychnos spinosa; B. aegyptiaca = Balanites aegyptiaca; K. senegalensis = Khaya Senegalensis; T. indica = Tamarindus indica

P. erinaceus perhaps has the most interesting ranking compared to the other species reported (see, Figure 5.8e). In all the local communities with the exception of Dagudi, P. erinaceus encounter was reported by the herders as being rare, but in Dagudi only 32% of the respondent’s ranked P. erinaceus as rare and up to 63% ranked it as very rare.

Results of the Pearson’s Chi-square test carried out showed that there is a statistically significant difference in herders responses on rarity of B. aegyptiaca, ( p = 0.011), S. spinosa, (p = 0.009) and T. indica (p = 0.000) and P. erinaceus (0.000) between the local communities. However there were no values for A. africana and K. senegalensis. This may be as the result in herders’ responses (all herder's ranked A. africana and K. senegalensis as 5

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i.e.s very rarely encountered). Additionally, the Kruskal Wallis test which is a rank based test showed that there is a statistically significant variation in herders responses on rarity for S. spinosa, (p = 0.002) and T. indica (p = 0.000) and P. erinaceus (0.000) but not for B. aegyptiaca, ( p =0.07), between the local communities.

5.4.3.2 Fodder plants preference per livestock

All herders from the five local communities ranked A. africana, K. senegalensis, and P. erinaceus as the most preferred species for their cattle. See figure 5:10 for the general trend in herders’ preference in fodder plants. Herders’ perception at the village level also agrees with the general perception see, figure 5:11. Only few herders picked T. indica as preferred species for their cattle in Dagudi and Galen sanji (see, figure 5.11).

Figure 5.10: Herders’ preference of fodder plants for cattle in the local communities surrounding Yankari Game reserve, Nigeria. A. africana = Afzelia africana; P. erinaceus = Ptericarpus erinaceus; S. spinosa =Strychnos spinosa; B. aegyptiaca = Balanites aegyptiaca; K. senegalensis = Khaya Senegalensis; T. indica = Tamarindus indica

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Figure 5.11: Herders’ preference of fodder plants for cattle in the local communities surrounding Yankari Game reserve, Nigeria. A. africana = Afzelia africana; P. erinaceus = Ptericarpus erinaceus; S. spinosa =Strychnos spinosa; B. aegyptiaca = Balanites aegyptiaca; K. senegalensis = Khaya Senegalensis; T. indica = Tamarindus indica

In Figure 5.11, all respondents in Jada, Galen sanji and Yalo ranked B. aegyptiaca as the most preferred species by sheep and goats. Majority of the respondents in Dagudi and Galen sanji also ranked B. aegyptiaca as the most preferred species. Closely ranked is S. spinosa by the respondents in Jada, Galen sanji and Yalo and similarly the majority of the respondents in Dagudi and Galen sanji as the second most preferred species. In Dagudi, the majority of the respondents ranked T. indica as the third most preferred species to feed their sheep and goats. A little less than half of the respondents in Galen sanji also ranked T. indica as the third most preferred species, however T. indica was found not preferred in Jada, Pali and Yalo. The respondents also reported that A. africana and K. senegalensis are not utilized by sheep and goats.

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Figure 5.12: Herders’ preference of fodder plants for Sheep and goats in the local communities surrounding Yankari Game reserve, Nigeria. A. africana = Afzelia africana; P. erinaceus = Ptericarpus erinaceus; S. spinosa =Strychnos spinosa; B. aegyptiaca = Balanites aegyptiaca; K. senegalensis = Khaya Senegalensis; T. indica = Tamarindus indica

Figure 5.13: Herders’ preference of fodder plants for Sheep and goats in the local communities surrounding Yankari Game reserve, Nigeria. A. africana = Afzelia africana; P. erinaceus = Ptericarpus erinaceus; S. spinosa =Strychnos spinosa; B. aegyptiaca = Balanites aegyptiaca; K. senegalensis = Khaya Senegalensis; T. indica = Tamarindus indica

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5.4.3.2a Non-fodder use of study species

Although B. aegyptiaca and S. spinosa are ranked as averagely encountered, these fodder plants are popular among the local communities and are heavily utilized for purposes other than as fodder plants for their cattle. B. aegyptiaca is mostly used to make “Allo” (tablets used commonly in Koranic teaching) and “kota” (commonly used by hunters). The fruits of B. aegyptiaca is generally licked as sweets and the leaves are used for medicinal purposes and as foods. The commonest use of T. indica is for food purposes (Kunun tsamiya) and the herders claim they only use T. indica to feed their livestock in the absence of any other fodder plants. B. egyptiaca and T. indica are always spared in the local communities because of their uses. Additionally, T. indica gives good shade for the peoples’ relaxation in all the local communities. K. senegalensis was frequently reported to be used for medicinal purposes, especially to cure stomach aches in humans.

5.5 Discussion

In this study the author investigated herders’ perception in the dynamics of the key plants they interact with. Pastoral systems are always changing. Thus interpreting the results of a one-off survey may be problematic/unreliable considering the cyclic nature of livestock populations in this study and other sources of annual variability. The results from this study include herder perception derived from the survey data. The author recognises that bias could arise from long-term recollection of facts. Despite these and other limitations, the results from this study illustrate how information on indigenous ecological perceptions, knowledge and practices reveals a picture of system change. This information could subsequently inform locally appropriate sustainable management plans.