Surviving Drought on Encroacher Bush Species

If I did not learn about using bush to produce feed, I could have lost everything – even the bull itself

Salomo Kauari, like his father before him, is a full-time farmer. He is a communal farmer and a mem­ber of the African Wild Dog Communal Conservancy.

Salomo attended as many training courses as he could over the years, especially those on the topic of range­land management. This is where he first heard about bush-based animal feed. Shortly thereafter, Salomo purchased a hammer mill machine, which is used to grind bush material into smaller pieces. What he didn’t know then, was that by in­vesting in his bush feed production, he was ensuring a lifeline for his family farm.

When the country faced an extended drought, Salomo put his learning to practice. “I knew I had to make a plan. I used the bushes. I made different recipes, for survival or maintenance feed.” This was how my twelve calves survived the drought, and they are big now, says Salomo who goes on to explain, “the mothers of the calves died in the drought, so I had to try help the calves survive.” Salomo uses biomass for his animal feed, from encroacher species. “I used a mixture of bush, bran, molasses syrup and salt.”

His expansion includes an invention of a barrel mixer that ef­ficiently mixes the feed with little effort and at no cost. Salo­mo also uses his hammer mill to produce activated charcoal powder, which he sells to other farmers. It is added to the livestock drinking water and absorbs toxins from poisonous plants found in this area. As an aftercare program, Salomo keeps goats on the land to keep regrowth of encroacher spe­cies in check.