THE NGUNI AND ITS FUTURE IN SOUTHERN AFRICA

K.A. RAMSAY – DEPARTMENT OF DEVELOPMENT AID – PRETORIALECTURE PRESENTED AT THE ANNUAL NGUNI PRODUCTION SALE

BARTLOW COMBINE – KWAZULU12th SEPTEMBER – 1985

1. INTRODUCTIONDespite the fact that the value of Sanga cattle has been known to animal scientists since the early part of the 20th Century, it has only been in recent years that the Sanga, and Nguni in particular, has begun gen-erating interest amongst both scientists and the stock farming community – mainly as a result of reports on the performance of the breed and its ability to survive and reproduce under conditions that have prevented many other cattle breeds from prospering.

As the days of sentimental rather than sensible choice of a breed for a specific environment draw to a close, the modern commercial farmer will be faced more and more with the challenge of producing an optimal amount of saleable beef per hectare without damaging the natural resources.

The choice of breed in a modern system therefore depends on the available food (the veld), the climatic conditions and the production system which the veld can manage. Many attempts have been made to ‘cre-ate’ the ideal breed for a specific environment and Southern Africa has its share of synthetic and other breeds – each often hailed as the ideal breed and the answer to extensive cattle ranching in the region. Why then have so many failed to live up to expectations? Have we not been looking elsewhere for solutions and ignoring our own natural resources?

2. THE ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE NGUNIThe Nguni cattle were found on the East Coast of Southern Africa and have moved with the Nguni peo-ples to their present areas in Zululand, Swaziland and Mozambique with the largest concentration of pure Nguni-cattle in Zululand.

The actual origin of the indigenous breeds can be traced back many centuries and recent work has shown that cattle, sheep and goats were kept and slaughtered as far back as 590 and 700 AD (Voigt, 1984).

As the animals were almost entirely dependent on the natural environment, they became part of the nat-ural ecosystems of their regions and were subject to a great deal of natural selection for adaptability and fertility. The traditional practise of milking the cows also led to a degree of selection for milk production. The resulting animal often failed to impress those ac-customed to a well-filled animal with a uniform colour and yet this animal was able to survive and reproduce under harsh environmental conditions. Some early farmers in Natal and Swaziland were aware of the val-ue of the breed and used the Nguni in crossbreeding programmes – mainly to counteract the rapid degen-eration of exotic breeds in the region. No efforts, how-ever, were made to breed a typical pure Nguni herd (Bonsma, Bisschop, Curson, van Rensburg, van Wyk, Barnard & Watermeyer, 1950).

In 1950, Bonsma et al. published a report on Nguni cattle and recommended that steps be taken to pre-vent the breed dying out and that a pure herd of at least 500 breeding animals should be established.

Fortunately, the recommendations were heeded and the progress of the Bartlow Nguni as we know it today can be summed up as follows:

1932 The first Nguni cattle purchased in Maputoland and transferred to Onderstepoort.

Early 1940 Nguni herd transferred to Vuma farm near Eshowe. Additional Nguni cattle purchased.

1950 Nguni herd transferred to Bartlow Combine.

1960 Performance testing of Bartlow Nguni’s started.

1983/84 New unrelated breeding material purchased – (herd closed since 1950).

Other Sanga herds were also established and some of these are summarised in table 1.

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In August, 1983, the Nguni was recognised as a breed under the livestock improvement act (Act No. 25 of 1977) and, judging from the amount of interest shown in the breed, the Sanga is about to take its rightful place in extensive beef production in the bushveld ar-eas of Southern Africa.

3. THE POTENTIAL OF THE NGUNI3.1. ADAPTABILITYHaving survived many years of exposure to climatic and other environmental extremes, the Nguni has de-velop as a heat tolerant disease resistant breed and has been shown in recent studies to be one of the most tick resistant cattle breed in Southern Africa (Spickett, de Klerk, Enslin & Scholtz, 1984; Kostrzews-ki, 1985). As a selective grazer and browser, the Nguni is able to obtain optimal nutritional value from the available natural vegetation, thus enabling it to survive under conditions which would be counter-productive to bulk-grazers such as the European Cattle breeds. Temperamentally, the Nguni is very docile – another characteristic of an animal in harmony with its total environment.

3.2 FERTILITY/PERFORMANCEAn unadapted animal is subject to a variety of envi-ronmental stresses which play havoc with the female animal’s reproductive cycle thereby effectively impair-

ing its reproductive rate. The Nguni is one of the most fertile breeds in Southern Africa has the lowest calv-ing interval of all the beef cattle breeds in the region. In table 2, the Bartlow Nguni herd is compared with some of the local beef breeds in the National beef cat-tle performance scheme. For the purposes of compar-ison, the Nguni is listed under indicus.

From the table, it is clear that the Nguni’s growth-rate leans towards the indicus but that its feed conver-sion ratio tends more towards some of the British and European breeds.

3.3. CALVE-SIZE AND EASE OF CALVINGThe Nguni calf is small. (average b.w. 27kg.) and there-fore calving problems are extremely rare – an econom-ically important trait – particularly if the Nguni is being considered for a crossbreeding programme.

3.4. BEEF PRODUCTIONThe quality of well-finished Sanga beef would appear to be superior to that of many other types and breeds and Naude, 1975 showed that young Nguni bulls were suitable for intensive feeding conditions and that an above average carcase mass with a Super-grading and the optimal amount of fat could be realised. Vorster, 1964 compared the amount of beef produced by three different breeds of beef cattle – Afrikaner, Hereford and Nguni (Table 3) and found that the Nguni pro-duced more beef per cow (kg beef) than the other two

TABLE 1SANGA HERDS – IN SOUTH AFRICA AND SOUTH WEST AFRICA* (Adapted from Armstrong, 1984)

BREEDINGSTATION AREA PERFORMANCE

TESTED FROMSANGA

TYPENUMBER OF

BREEDING FEMALES

BARTLOW KWAZULU ±1960 NGUNI 660CWAKA KWAZULU - 100OGONGO OVAMBO ±1976 76MILE 46 KAVANGO ±1976 **SACHINGA CAPRIVI ±1976 20LOSKOP SOUTH RSA ±1969 160HARTEBEES GAZANKULU - SHANGAAN 125TUKULU CISKEI - NKONE ±50PEDDIE CISKEI - NKONE ±30OMATJENNE SWA ±1965 KAVANGO 60MANGETTI - SANGA 100 - 250STELLENBOSCH LEBOWA 1968 PEDI 350OGONGO OWAMBO ±1976 WAMBO 125SACHINGA CAPRIVI ±1976 CAPRIVI SANGA 30**Excluding private herds.

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TABLE 2A COMPARISON OF THE PERFORMANCE OF THE BARTLOW NGUNI AND SOME OF THE

LOCAL BEEF BREEDS IN SOUTH AFRICA (Adapted from Scholtz & Lombard, 1984)

BREEDINGSTATION BREED CALVING INTERVAL

(DAYS)GROWTH RATE*

(G/DAY)FEED CONVERSION*

RATIO

INDICUSAFRIKANER 468 1 100 7.81BRAHMAN 456 1 130 7.40

**BARTLOW NGUNI 402 1 228 7.05

INDICUS TYPESBONSMARA 430 1 359 7.13

DRANKENSBERGER 468 1 332 7.34SANTA G. 423 1 427 7.07

BRITISHHEREFORD 433 1 345 7.04S. DEVON 445 1 493 6.97SUSSEX 446 1 339 6.46

EUROPEANCHAROLAIS 469 1 507 6.51PINZGAUER 440 1 404 7.30

SIMMENTALER 439 1 521 7.11*IRENE, 1976 – 1981, INFORMATION SUPPLIED BY GERHARD – BEEF CATTLE PERFORMANCE SCHEME**Data supplied by J.M. Lepen – KwaZulu Government Service.

TABLE 3AMOUNT OF BEEF PRODUCED BY DIFFERENT BREEDS OF BEEF CATTLE UNDER COMMERCIAL CONDITIONS OF FARMING IN ROHODESIA, AT A CONSTANT STOCKING RATE (Vorster, 1964)

BREED AFRIKANER HEREFORD NGUNI

Calving percentage 60 60 60Survival rate % 73 45 82Number of animals for slaughter 44 27 49Carcass mass (kg) 243 227 235Production/cow (kg) 11 62 116

TABLE 4NETT INCOME OF VARIOUS BREEDS AT OMATJENNE-MARKETING AT 18 MONTHS OF AGE

DIRECTLY OFF THE VELD WITH NO CONCENTRATE FEEDING (Barnard & Venter, 1983)

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.INCOME: R COSTS: R

BREED1.

STEERS XHEIFERS

2.CULLEDCOWS

3.HIDESOFFAL

1.PROD.

2.MARKETING

N–I2–3

N–I:Afrikaner

= R100

Afrikaner 10 128 3 147 1 930 1 494 4 469 9 242 = 100Hereford 10 115 3 102 2 129 1 822 4 578 8 946 = 97Sanga 16 470 3 099 2 754 1 591 7 739 12 993 = 141Santa Gertrudis 11 499 3 193 2 012 2 174 5 014 9 561 = 103Simmentaler 10 368 2 981 2 213 2 977 4 469 8 116 = 88

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Reprinted by:Nguni Cattle Breeders’ Society

breeds under commercial farming conditions in Zim-babwe (Rhodesia).

The fertility and survival-rate of the Nguni therefore enables it to produce more beef per breeding cow or per unit area in its environment and, as the Sanga’s environment covers a sizeable are in Southern Africa, it should play an increasingly important role in com-mercial beef production on the sub-continent.

Venter and Barnard (1983), compared the next in-come of five beef cattle breeds (Afrikaner, Hereford, Sanga, Santa Gertrudis and Simmentaler) at Omat-jenne research station in South-West Africa, marketing at 18 months of age directly off the veld with no con-centrate feeding and the Nguni was shown to generate the highest Nett-income (Table 4) once again staking a claim for the Nguni as competitive beef breed.

4. A FEW COMMENTS ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE SANGA/NGUNIThe Nguni had the advantage of being able to develop without the often artificial constraints of breed stan-dards. Natural selection has seen to it that the breed is well adapted and fertile and it is now up to us as breeders and scientists to retain these good qualities.4.1 Selection criteria should therefore be based primarily on adaptability and fertility.(a) The conformation of the pure fertile Nguni in its natural environment should form the basis of breed standards for phenotypic selection.(b) Cows should be selected on reproductive efficiency.(c) Heifers should be mated at an early age. (±15 months) and for only 45 days – preferably under a degree of stress. All heifers not in calf should be culled.(d) Bulls should be selected for growth efficiency and tick resistance. (This is the only growth- selection which is necessary). Hypoplastic and poorly pigmented bulls must be culled. (e) Bulls should be screened for the 1-29 chromosome translocation and culled if found to be carrying the defect.4.2 There are a variety of Sanga-ecotypes. Prospective breeders should therefore try and obtain as much female breeding stock as

possible from areas ecologically similar to their areas. This will also ensure that there is a large gene-pool of Sanga cattle available to prevent ‘bottleneck’ problems at a later stage.

5. CONCLUDING REMARKSThe Nguni can and should play an increasingly import-ant role in beef cattle production in the extensive bush-veld farming areas of Southern Africa. The success of the breed, however, depends entirely on how we, as farmers and breeders, approach its development and whether the good qualities of the animal are retained or sacrificed for insignificant and artificial traits.

6. LITERATURE CITEDARMSTRONG, C.W.B., 1979. The value of indigenous animals in the National States of South Africa. Unpublished report.BARNARD, J.P. & VENTER, J.P., 1983. Indigenous and exotic beef cattle in South West Africa – a progress report – 15th regular meeting – Standing committee for animal Production SARCCUS. Maun., Botswana, 1983.BONSMA, F.N., BISSCHOP, J.H.R., CURSON, H.H., VAN RENSBURG, P.P., VAN RENSBURG, J.A., VAN WYK, H.P.D., BARNARD, W.G. & WATERMEYER, F. 1950. Nguni cattle. Report on indigenous cattle in South Africa Department of Agriculture. Agric. Res. Series No. 22.KOSHZEWSKI, M.W. 1985. Progress report on tick research proj-ect. Unpublished report.LEPEN, J.M. 1985. Personal communication.NAUDE, R.T. 1975. Voorlopige verslag: Sekere gegewens in ver-band met die vleisproduksie-eienskappe van Nguni, Afrikaner en Friesbulle en osse. NIVS – Irene, 1975.SCHOLTZ, M.M. & LOMBARD, P.E. 1984. Potential of the Nguni – Posler presented at the Second World Congress on Sheep and Beef Cattle Breeding – Pretoria, 1984.SPICKETT, A.M., DE KLERK, D., HEYNE, H., ENSLIN, C.B. & SCHOLTZ, M.M. 1984. Assessment of the resistance of three cattle breeds to tick infestation under minimal control conditions. Poster pre-sented at the Second World Congress on Sheep and Beef Cattle Breeding – Pretoria, 1984.VOIGT, ELIZABETH A. 1984. Happy rest: The earliest iron age fauna from the Soutpansberg. Transvaal Museum, Pretoria – in press.VOIGT, ELIZABETH A. 1984. Grandmother’s bones. Early iron age small stock farmers in the Muden area. Transvaal Museum, Pre-toria – in press.VORSTER, T.H. 1964. Factors influencing the growth, production and reproduction of different breeds of beef cattle under range conditions in Southern Rhodesia. Southern Rhodesia Agric Res. Bul. No. 1, Salisbury.