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Agriculture in Mozambique:
Animal Husbandry, 1974-1994
Unnumbered Dossier
In the decades after independence, animal husbandry – cattle, goats, pigs, and sheep – remained small scale and underdeveloped.
The three most important livestock sectors in Mozambique are beef, dairy and poultry. Animal husbandry is important socially and culturally as well as economically in rural Mozambique (as it is elsewhere in Africa). Economically the activity helps to supply meat and milk to rural people – as well as providing animal traction and a means of transport. The ownership of cattle is also culturally important as an indicator of social status.
The three main indigenous cattle types in Mozambique – overwhelmingly in the hands of small farmers – are the Landim, the Tete, and the Angoni, all of which are well adapted to local conditions, being disease resistant, able to survive heat extremes, and accustomed to low-quality feed. They also require relatively little attention from herders.
However, all three of these cattle types have suffered since the 1990s from genetic degradation, having been crossbred indiscriminately and having been impacted by various environmental disasters, as well as by the 16-year conflict with RENAMO. which reduced the national cattle stock dramatically and was followed by a programme that introduced foreign Nguni breeds from neighbouring countries. See, e.g. Anneli Ekblom, "A Historical Ecology of Cattle in Mozambique," in: Gunnel Cederlöf and Mahesh Rangarajan (eds.) At nature's edge: the global present and long-term history (OUP, 2019).
The population of goats is mainly kept by rural smallholders, with very little commercial activity. The two main indigenous goat breeds are the Landim and the highly localised Pafuri. Both breeds frequently suffer from underfeeding with a resulting high rate of mortality.
Note: this dossier does not include materials on either apiculture (bee-keeping) or poultry, which are organised separately.
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