Kishapu district council is among six district councils of shinyanga region others include Shinyanga rural DC, Shinyanga municipality, Kahama municipality, Msalala DC and Ushetu DC.
Kishapu district has a population of 272,990(sensours 2012) of which 80% are livestock keepers and farmers. Kishapu is a semi arid area receiving between 450-880mm of rain per annum.
Due to the fact that livestock keeping is among the major economic activities in the district thus almost every household keep livestock.
It is estimated that kishapu has the following number of livestock:
• Cattle 393,371
• Goats 248,291
• Sheep 133,035
• Pigs 1503
• Chicken 532,700
• Ducks 1820
Other Livestock infrastructures are:
• Dip tanks 23
• Charcoal dams 28
• Livestock market 4
• Slaughter slabs 6
• Hides/skin bans 4
• Crashes 5
• Holding ground 5
• Water troughs 4
Pasture area 370,247 ha Ngitiri(shrubs) 176ha
SHORT HISTORY OF THE DEPARTMENT.
The department of livestock and fishery development has started since the time of the Kishapu District Council’s inauguration 2006.The department has 45 employees of which 43 of them are livestock officers and 2 fishery officers. The department operates in Head Quarter, Ward and Village level of which 08 employees-Head Quarter, 21 employees-ward level and 16 employees-village level.
The department has 8 sections:
• Meat hygiene and inspection
• Hides and skin
• DSMS Animal health and Disease control
• DSMS livestock marketing
• DSMS Dairy husbandry
• Fishery production
• Animal production
• Livestock extension
DEPARTMENT RESPONSIBILITIES.
The department of livestock and fisheries has huge responsibilities, all are meant to increase production and quality of livestock and its products aiming at improving the living standard of the people.
Some of those responsibilities are:
• Provision of technical advice to livestock keepers so as to increase production (pasture production, structures building, feedlotting and harvesting of livestocks)
• Vaccination and treatment of livestocks
• Provision of training to farmers
• Create awareness and sensitization to livestock keepers on the significance of livestock dipping/spraying to control diseases spread by ticks.
• To conduct meat hygiene and inspection so as to protect public health.
• To provide entrepreneurship skills to farmers.
• To find, document and conserve opportunities, success and challenges pertaining to livestock husbandry.
• To conduct artificial insermination to heifers in order to increase production and quality of products.
COMMUNITY SERVICES.
The department provides the following services to the community:
• Extension services.
• Provision of artificial insemination to farmers.
• Vaccination and treatment of livestock.
• Meat hygiene and inspection.
• Entrepreneural skills in livestock and its products.
EXPECTATIONS.
The department has the following expectations to the community:
• Positive improvement in livestock health that will fetch better market price.
• Community sensitization and empowerment that would lead to increase in the number of dip tanks built and used.
• Community to start embracing a habit of pasture establishment,harvesting and storage for future use
• Knowledge of livestock feedlotting, harvesting and selling result into increased enrolment of school children, better housing and purchase of improved farm equipments.
• Increased number of community members feeding in livestock products for example milk and butter etc.
• Increased number of charcoal dams and harvesting of rain water.
CHALLENGES.
The challenges facing the department of livestock and fisheries are:
• Insufficient rains (semi arid) leading to deaths of livestock due to lack of pasture and water.
• Livestock keepers keeping large herds that are not supported by the carrying capacity of the pasture.
• Insufficient number of extension officers.
• Meager budget that does not support extension needs for example motorcycle, extension kit etc.
