*3.3.5 Range rehabilitation*

Range rehabilitation is the restoration of the veld using such methods as gulley filling and planting grass lines. However, it is more feasible at small scale. Both communal and private enclosures have also been successfully used to rehabilitate rangelands [45, 46].

## *3.3.6 Strategic destocking*

In the SEL, deterioration of rangeland productivity during prolonged dry season characteristic of the area is worsened by deliberate increases in cattle numbers by farmers who use the high cattle numbers as a hedge against losses during drought [6]. Therefore, it is recommended that farmers should adopt strategic destocking programmes that promote fattening of animals during periods of feed abundance and disposal while they are in good enough body condition to fetch high prices.

**111**

*Livestock Feeds and Feeding in Semi-Arid Areas of Southern Africa*

discussions in their area, as well as collect test material.

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Livestock production in semi-arid areas is hampered by shortages of feed, especially in the dry season when the grazing resource becomes limiting. During this time, browse species play an important role as the most abundant and nutritious feed. Although crop residues are also a likely supplementary feed, they are of poor nutritive value. Potential technologies to improve such feedstuffs include urea treatment and ensilage. However, they are also not readily adopted by farmers due to lack of knowledge among other factors. It is therefore important to promote such innovations with the view to improve livestock production and hence rural

The authors would like to express great appreciation to Malipati traditional leadership in the SEL for the permission to conduct questionnaires and focus group

\*, Everson Dahwa1

1 Garry Magadzire School of Agriculture and Natural Sciences, Great Zimbabwe

2 Department of Research and Specialist Services, Division of Livestock Research,

© 2020 The Author(s). Licensee IntechOpen. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/ by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium,

and Clayton Simbarashe Kapembeza2

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.90109*

**4. Conclusions**

livelihoods.

**Acknowledgements**

**Conflict of interest**

**Author details**

Clarice Princess Mudzengi1

University, Masvingo, Zimbabwe

provided the original work is properly cited.

Grasslands Research Institute, Marondera, Zimbabwe

\*Address all correspondence to: clarice.mudzengi@gmail.com
