| The prevailing wisdom in Swaziland maintains that overstocking and overgrazing have caused the degradation of the communal rangelands. Colonial and post-colonial governments have addressed this situation by encouraging Swazi people to keep fewer numbers of younger cattle, commensurate with the carrying capacity of the range, without much success.;This study attempted to answer two major questions. The first question was why Swazi people keep cattle. Two reasons emerged from the analysis. First, Swazi people do not rear cattle as farm products along commercial ranching lines. Instead, they harvest flow products and services during the life of the cattle they keep. Cattle sales and slaughter are end products, not the main reason why cattle are kept. Secondly, cattle ownership has deep symbolical and historical meanings that are intrinsic to Swazi culture and identity. For these reasons, Swazi people keep cattle for much longer---beyond the age of 24 months, and in higher numbers than technical experts advise.;The second question was to find out why cattle are sold or retained in the indigenous cattle rearing system. Characteristics of both the herd---such as herdsize and sex of animals kept---and of the homesteads keeping cattle were found important determinants of cattle off-take, that is, the decision to dispose or retain animals. On the basis of these findings, the current official wisdom that there is rampant overstocking of SNL is questioned, especially in the light of individual homestead herd sizes, and expert opinion about the economically viable herd size per homestead on SNL. Three-quarters of homesteads in the sample had herd sizes less than the optimum number of 14 cattle necessary to provide for their subsistence needs.;In addition, the validity of the current definition of cattle off-take is questioned, given the socio-economic and cultural context in which cattle are raised by the Swazi people. It is suggested that off-take is not just sales for commercial slaughter, but includes home slaughters and cattle deaths, as well as flow products and services that cattle provide their owners. Seen from this point of view, communal rangelands are more productive than commercial ranches, and support larger numbers of people.;Ultimately, the solutions to the problem of cattle rearing on SNL nests within the political realm of the land, especially the "cattle belong to the king" culture. Unless and until this riddle is solved, the issue of cattle owned by indigenous Swazi people will continue to be cause for concern for the foreseeable future. |
