Browsing by Author "Oryem, Johnathan Lotyang"

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    Studying the association between livestock mobility, herd demographic structure and retention of indigenous goats, sheep and cattle among the livestock keeping households in Kotido and Katakwi districts of Uganda.
    (Busitema University, 2026) Oryem, Johnathan Lotyang
    This study assessed livestock mobility practices and its relationship with herd demographic structure and retention of indigenous cattle, goats and sheep among livestock-keeping households in Katakwi and Kotido districts of Uganda. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 200 households, with 100 households selected from each district. Data on household characteristics, livestock composition, herd structure and mobility practices were collected using a structured questionnaire and analysed in RStudio. A composite mobility index was constructed from distance to seasonal grazing areas, number of seasonal grazing sites and annual movement frequency. Descriptive and inferential analyses included Kruskal-Wallis, dunn’s test, chi-square and multivariable regression analyses, including binary logistic regression. Livestock mobility differed significantly between the sub-regions, with Kotido households undertaking more extensive movements than those in Katakwi (χ² = 13.66, p = 0.0002). Herd size increased significantly with mobility, from a median of 3.3 TLU among sedentary households to 6.7 TLU among limited-mobility and 19.3 TLU among highly mobile households (H(2) = 46.138, p < 0.001, ε² = 0.318). Highly mobile households had significantly greater odds of retaining indigenous cattle (OR = 7.522, p = 0.016), whereas indigenous goat and sheep retention were not significantly associated with mobility. Breed composition also differed significantly between Kotido and Katakwi districts for cattle, goats and sheep. However, after adjustment for districts, household size, years of livestock keeping and household income, the association between continuous mobility and total herd size was no longer statistically significant (B = 0.515, p = 0.092), although the model explained 63.3% of variation in log-transformed herd size (R² = 0.633; n = 139).The study concludes that livestock mobility is strongly associated with herd size and indigenous cattle retention, but its independent association with total herd size is influenced by household and district factors. The study recommends mobility-sensitive livestock development and community-based conservation and breeding programmes that promote locally adapted indigenous cattle while tailoring genetic improvement strategies to the production systems of Kotido district (pastoral) and Katakwi district (Agro-pastoral).