Cattle Problems in Uganda Breeding

Abstract

THE history of mankind is intimately associated with the development of farming and, among man's earlier efforts towards achieving a settled communal life were the domestication of livestock and the tillage of land. While it is impossible to state categorically that animal domestication always preceded land cultivation, contemporary evidence from existing primitive communities suggests that the taming and subsequent domestication of animals generally preceded soil cultivation and the anchoring of human populations by crop husbandry. Reference to historical records, as well as investigations into the habits of contemporary primitive peoples, suggest an absence of deliberate attempts to conserve natural fodders or to grow food for livestock. Instead, as primitive man developed (to a nomadic existence), his flocks and herds were driven slowly over the available natural pasturage in search of food and it is probable that, like many Africans today, these early human ancestors did not clear weeds, shrubs and trees from land nor crop it, until they were fairly certain they could reap adequate returns for their labours.