The Role Of The Department Of Agriculture In The Development Of A Sustainable Wildlife Ranching Sector In South Africa

Keith A Ramsay and Victor Musetha (Department of Agriculture)

Until fairly recently – and despite the fact that a number of Acts administered by the Department of Agriculture (DoA) apply equally to domestic livestock and wildlife – the breeding and sustainable use of eminently suitable wild herbivore species in farming systems was seldom seen as an agricultural activity.
This was largely due the fact that the use of wild herbivores in farming systems was generally seen as an activity regulated by legislation administered by nature conservation structures at Government and Provincial level.
This started to change in 1987 when the then Department of Agricultural Development recognised wildlife ranching as a fully-fledged agricultural activity with the potential to produce both meat and a range of value added products and activities as a viable alternative to more conventional forms of animal agriculture.
Despite this, the sector remained relatively unknown, as many potential stakeholders and decision makers were unaware of the real potential of wildlife ranching. Fortunately, there has been a radical paradigm shift over a relatively short period – largely as a result of accessible information on the strategic advantages of wildlife ranching.

These include the following:

• Opportunity to convert marginal agricultural land into productive farming systems.
• Wildlife resources are often better adapted to limited water supply and high temperatures.
• Diversification – the potential to produce a wider range of products per unit area
• A wide range of employment opportunities including scope for more specialized activities that carry higher remuneration packages
A fundamental difference between wildlife conservation areas (reserves) and wildlife ranching is the fact that wild animal species are managed and moved through human intervention.
In addition, unless the ranching area is large enough for wildlife to move freely. When necessary (largely determined by the availability of water and herbage), the maintenance of any ecological balance depends largely on management decisions taken by the land user.
In many of the high potential areas, wild herbivores are now competing with domestic species for resources. Where this happens, care must be taken to ensure that resources are used in the most economically and ecologically effective way.
This calls for a combination of information on the resource, species, production systems and markets to enable users to make informed decisions. In addition, the success of wildlife ranching is dependent on effective governance, guidance and support from a number of functionaries at central and provincial government level.
As a number of Government Departments administer legislation that has both a direct and indirect impact on this sector, any organized and sustainable development will depend largely on the ability of the responsible Departments to work together as a team to provide the necessary legal and logistical infrastructure.
Taking these facts into consideration, DoA took the initiative to develop a wildlife ranching policy with direct links to policies such as veld and forage and animal improvement – as well as the national Livestock Development Strategy (LDS) to facilitate the development of a sustainable sector with the potential to accommodate new entrants along the entire value chain.
In the process, critical links have been established with key Departments such as Environmental Affairs and Tourism (DEAT) and Water Affairs and Forestry (DWAF) and Trade and Industry (DTI) in an effort to move towards an integrated one-stop service for the sector.
The most important Acts controlling the wildlife ranching sector are summed up in Table 1 and Table 2 reviews some of the services provided by the two lead Departments (DoA and DEAT) Effectively, DoA provides a development infrastructure while DEAT provides the necessary framework to regulate activities such as ecotourism and hunting.

Table 1. Current Legislation Affecting The Wildlife Ranching Sector

Table 2. Services And Service Providers

Support for the Wildlife Ranching sector can be divided into: Policy and Institutional support

Policy

Veld and Forage Policy The National Veld and forage policy was developed over a period of five years through an extensive and inclusive consultation process. This policy makes provision for the following: The development of an integrated set of Biome-Specific Norms and Standards for the sustainable management of Veld and forage resources. The development of an inclusive National Veld and Forage Databank.
The establishment of a fully representative National Veld and Forage Working Group (NVFWG) - a stakeholder-driven forum and mouthpiece for the sustainable management of all Veld and forage resources. The establishment of an Interdepartmental Technical Working Group (ITWG) to facilitate optimal coordination and collaboration at Government level.
The development of an inclusive (communal and commercial) National Veld and Forage Strategy and Implementation Framework including a National Veld and Forage Monitoring and Improvement Program with biome specific Centres of Excellence to address critical issues such as Veld degradation, the loss of biodiversity, cover and species, bush encroachment and invasion of alien plants.
Land tenure and farmer settlement and support issues – including financial support and the involvement of Non Governmental Organisations (NGO’s) such as the Grassland Society of Southern Africa (GSSA), the Wildlife Ranchers association of South Africa (WRSA) and the National Agricultural Marketing council (NAMC).

Policy for the development of a Sustainable Wildlife Ranching Sector in South Africa

As wild herbivores often share resources with domestic livestock and as Wildlife ranching is often a more viable alternative in certain biomes, this policy was developed at the same time as the Veld and Forage policy – and therefore shares a common goal of sustainable use of the available resources.
The broad objective of this policy is to cover all the current anomalies and shortfalls hampering the development of an economically and ecologically viable wildlife ranching sector by developing a multi-disciplinary framework that can be endorsed by cabinet and all affected Departments for implementation at all levels of governance.

This policy will:

• Support the effective management of ecologically and economically viable wildlife ranching systems.
• Ensure the sustainable management of natural resources used by the wildlife ranching sector.
• Facilitate the development of a set of Norms and Standards,
• Guidelines and a Framework for a sustainable wildlife ranching sector.
• Promote and support equitable access to and participation in the wildlife ranching sector.
• Provide a framework for effective management of animal health and welfare
• Establish a National Wildlife Ranch / farm and Animal Database
• Facilitate the promotion and marketing facilities and strategies within the wildlife industry.
• Support relevant poverty alleviation and food safety issues
• Promote research and development, and training and support services

Animal Improvement Policy

This policy provides support for the animal improvement act as well as the livestock development strategy. It also supports the development of a wildlife ranching policy
“Farming with certain wild animal species instead of conventional farm animals is becoming increasingly popular – particularly in marginal areas. It has the potential to provide food and income to farmers - and a labor force in the developed and developing sector and the orderly development of this industry, as a viable animal production activity should be encouraged.
There is also a growing wild animal breeding industry – with a need for some form of recording and evaluation. Conventional facilities operating under the Animal Improvement Act can provide such a service. While legislation makes it possible to declare wild animal species as animals for specific sections of the Animal Improvement Act, relevant National and Provincial Environmental legislation and ordinance should be taken into consideration as well.”
“An Inter – Departmental working group (DEAT- NDA) should be established to facilitate the development of the game farming industry within an acceptable legal framework that takes cognizance of all relevant legislation – but recognizes the fact that game farming is a legitimate agricultural activity. As a recognized as an agricultural activity, game farming should have a policy to facilitate the development of the industry at all levels.“
This policy also supports the establishment of animal improvement schemes and a National database that could include certain wildlife species
“Basic but accurate data – basic information on animal identification, location of owners/keepers, breed distribution and composition, mating, births, birth weights, weaning and post weaning weights - on the different breeds used for food and agriculture can be used to identify and trace superior animals in registered and non-registered herds and flocks. This data can be processed into information that could be used to broaden the reference base of specific breed evaluations.“
A National Animal recording scheme/ National database for all animals used for food and agriculture should therefore be declared when the Animal Improvement Act, 1998 (Act No. 62 of 1998) comes into effect.
This scheme will enable all breed Societies to download pedigree and other data onto the Integrated registration and Genetic Information System (INTERGIS). This information can then be used to evaluate and identify superior breeding animals and to determine and predict trends in populations to avoid problems such as inbreeding. These facilities are available for breeders of wildlife species as well.

Animal Care And Protection (Welfare)

As custodians of Animal care and protection legislation, the Department effectively endorses the internationally recognized ‘five freedoms’:

• Freedom from hunger, thirst and malnutrition
• Freedom from fear and distress
• Freedom from physical and thermal discomfort
• Freedom from pain, injury and disease; and
• Freedom to express normal patterns of behavior) provide valuable guidance in animal welfare.
The various wildlife ranching sub sectors have been encouraged to draft self-regulatory codes of practice that could be used to develop legal norms and standards The SABS code for the translocation of wild herbivores is a good example of what can and should be done.

Institutional Support - The National Livestock Development Strategy

The National Livestock industry and implementation strategy (LDS) was developed over a period of 12 Months as a coordinated National Department of Agriculture (DoA), Provincial Agriculture – Agricultural Research Council (ARC) process – within the framework of Presidential Imperatives and the Strategic Plan for South Africa with regard to the need to enhance equitable access and participation in agriculture, improve global competitiveness and profitability, and ensure sustainable resource management.
Actions included an in depth review of both the livestock sector as well as the resource base - and sector working groups were established to use information on current status, constraints and challenges as a framework to develop strategies to rectify problems and to mobilize the respective sectors towards more equable and sustainable production. After consultation, the strategy was approved at the highest possible level to ensure optimal support from all relevant sectors.
Effectively, therefore, an integrated policy and strategy framework is now in place to support long term interventions aimed at mobilizing rural communities towards economically and ecologically viable animal agriculture. This should go a long way towards addressing the challenge of the commons and ensuring food security through the provision of much needed animal protein as well as the creation of livelihoods and generation of income to buy food.
Tables 4(a) to 4(d) highlight some of the planned strategic interventions with specific reference to Animal agriculture off natural Veld.

This would include wildlife ranching

Table 3(a). - Policy / Legal / Regulatory Framework Interventions

Table 3(b). - Structural / Institutional Framework interventions

Table 3 (C). - Service Provision Interventions

Table 3(D). - Research and Development (R&D) Interventions

Expected outcomes from the LDS with the potential to contribute towards more effective production and marketing of animal products – locally, regionally (SADC) and internationally:

• Better statistics – leading to more effective management of the entire supply chain
• A united approach to common problems
• Sector and Sub Sector specific development programs
• More effective disease surveillance and control
• Increased local, regional and international trade as a result of guarantees on product health and traceability as well as animal care 

Strategic Non-Governmental Sector Partners

Wildlife Ranching SA (WRSA)

Wildlife Ranching – South Africa (WRSA) - currently the mouthpiece for this sector has been very active in the development of the Veld and forage as well as the closely linked Wildlife ranching policy. A sector working group has been established along with a section 27 committee that is administered by National Agricultural Marketing Council (NAMC).

The National Agricultural Marketing Council (NAMC)

The NAMC forms a critical link between DoA and the sector and has already provided invaluable inputs. The most recent being a Section 17 company that has drafted a report on the sector to clearly define activities and propose interventions for the sustainable development of wildlife ranching in South Africa.

The Section 17 report of the NAMC identified the following activities under wildlife ranching

• All animal and bird species (feathered and furred), excluding
• Domesticated animals- including:
• Endemic South African species
• Alien species
• Invasive species
• Damage causing animals
• Free roaming ostriches
• Thick-skin animals (including crocodiles)
• Exotic animals
• Critically threatened, threatened and endangered and protected species

Many wildlife species have multiple value traits – live animals, trophies, and skins.