Farmers’ perceptions and handling of livestock manure in urban/peri-urban areas of Kampala, Uganda :

Abstract: The global population is increasing every day, especially in developing countries. Due to the inadequate distribution methods of the world’s resources a lot of people have problems accessing the food they need. Urban migration is causing a high demand of food in towns and farming activities in cities are necessary in different parts of the world. This study was conducted in Kampala, the capital city of Uganda, with the aim to investigate farmers handling of livestock manure in the city. The information was gathered through interviews with 125 farmers in two different divisions of Kampala and manure from three types of livestock was analyzed for chemical composition. Most of the farmers kept poultry (61.6%) followed by dairy cattle (45.6%), pigs (27.2%), goats (22.4%) and sheep (3.2%). 72% of the respondents were women and the majority of the respondents were owners of livestock. Livestock was an important part of the respondents’ lives and contributed with 25-50% to the household economy in the majority of the households. Livestock was used both for home consumption and for selling products. For all types of livestock it was most common to use the manure as fertilizer for food production. The second common thing was to heap the manure in one place and dispose it later. Pig and poultry manure was experienced to have stronger smell and was harder to remove compared to manure from cattle and goats/sheep. Many farmers had conflicts with neighbours complaining about free ranging animals and noises. Most of the farmers did not consider the manure/urine produced as a problem, but needed tools like gloves, spades and wheelbarrows to facilitate the handling of manure. Pig manure had the highest content of organic carbon (40.7%) and nitrogen (3.5%). Dairy cattle had the lowest value of nitrogen (1.0%) and the highest C:N ratio (31.8). Goat manure had lowest value of organic carbon (28%). Due to the C:N ratio, goat and pig manure is more suitable for biogas production. The manure, from all types of livestock, is appropriate to use to cope with the declining soil fertility.