Livestock Production Systems and Productivity Monitoring Tool

What we use are a series of tools developed for the following 1. To collate initial information at household level on livestock owned within farming systems and identification of constraints in management of various livestock 2. Tools for continuous monitoring (at monthly intervals) of animal productivity (including production, reproduction, adaptation, feeding and management) --these tend to be species specific, so we have tools for monitoring dairy cattle, and for monitoring sheep, and are adapting this for monitoring goats--these have been paper based, but currently we are testing use of mobile phone technology to collate this information from farmers 3. Data storage and provision of feedback messages from information collated--these are still under development, with some testing carried out for dairy cattle production systems

Summary of uses • Collating information at household level on livestock owned • Identifying constraints in livestock management • Monitoring animal productivity • Storing data and provision of feedback messages