Performance testing for the smallholder sector in South Africa

Following the remarkable success of performance testing in the commercial sector, the Agricultural Research Council's Animal Improvement Institute (ARC–AII) initiated a beef cattle performance testing scheme for smallholder farmers in 1996. The scheme, which became known as Kaonafatsho ya Dikgomo (Sotho for animal improvement), has been running well in the Northern and North West Provinces and is set to spread gradually to the rest of the country. A dairy cattle performance testing scheme for smallholder farmers was recently launched in Gauteng Province and is in its initial stages of implementation. This case study only focuses on the beef scheme, since it is the one on which significant experience has been gained.