The Government of Indonesia had initiated a transmigration project, encouraging the voluntary movement of people from overpopulated and overexploited land in the inner islands to the less developed areas of the outer islands. However, programme implementation was limited by constraints such as the lack of draught animals in the new environment. Cattle ownership was therefore identified as crucial to the improvement of productivity, the maximization of land utility and the augmentation of smallholder incomes. Attempts to provide draught cattle under various governmental programmes had proved unsuccessful.

Planned

Achieved

To procure cattle from domestic sources on a continuous basis and distribute them in the outer islands.

To provide credit facilities for a credit-in-kind system that would allow poor smallholders to acquire cattle on favourable terms without imposing the burden of cash-generation for repayment. Farmers were expected to return two offspring to the project for redistribution five years after the date of receipt.

To provide infrastructure for cattle transfer through the establishment of quality control centres and the construction of quarantine stations and holding yards.

In Phase I, a total of 52 410 cattle (exceeding the appraisal target by 16.5%) were procured and distributed to 46 572 farmers in the five provinces of Sumatera. In Phase II, 84 150 cattle (100% of the target) were procured and distributed to 76 500 farmers in the five provinces in Sumatera and three provinces in Sulawesi. However, the sites selected for cattle distribution (predominately upland farming areas) were inappropriate due to poor soil conditions and exposed the cattle to nutritional risks.

Beginning in 1986, 61 175 offspring were redistributed to 53 205 farmers. A total of 58.7% of the farmers who had received cattle under Phase I and 16.6% from Phase II had repaid their loans by July 1994. The credit-in-kind system was embraced with great enthusiasm, resulting in increased participation. However, the repayment of loans was compromised by the distribution of poor-quality animals, the selection of sites with unfavourable agro-ecological conditions, poor animal-husbandry practices, disease outbreaks and a lack of land for forage development.

Under Phase I, funds were made available for the construction of livestock-handling facilities, holding grounds and quarantine centres. Inspections found the facilities to be solid and spacious, with the exception of dipping facilities, which were judged to be too small. Due to land shortages, the sites chosen were not always optimal. In Phase II, fewer funds were allocated since most facilities had already been constructed. Eight holding grounds and a quarantine station were upgraded. Much attention was given to the provision of feed storage facilities and water supplies, reducing cattle losses related to stress and inadequate watering.

The Government of Indonesia implemented its livestock development polices through the Directorate General of Livestock, which concentrated its initiatives on the improvement of services and infrastructure through the provision of seed, fodder and breeding stock, artificial insemination, disease investigation and quarantine. At appraisal, it was recognized that there was a need to strengthen and upgrade the institutional structures of the existing animal service.

Planned

Achieved

To strengthen livestock extension services at field level through the establishment of SATGAS rural extension field workers. The SATGAS teams were to consist of a veterinary officer, an animal husbandry officer, a forage agronomist officer and a support staff member.

To provide essential staff training.

To provide vehicles.

To provide consultancy services responsible for project management support and coordination.

By the end of Phase II, 582 SATGAS teams were operating in the field. These teams efficiently conveyed information, training and technology to the beneficiaries and aided in the establishment of farmers' groups led by key farmers. They also ensured the effective distribution and redistribution of cattle, provided extension and animal health services and organized and recorded the credit activities. However, the expansion of the project reduced the ability of SATGAS teams to carry out other technical and advisory work. This slowed the process of loan documentation and meant that less time was spent on data collection and administration. Moreover, the shortage of qualified veterinary officers limited the animal-health expertise of the teams.

A total of 37 project management staff received a 12-day course in management, project organization, monitoring and evaluation, and problem analysis, and 28 middle-to-upper-level staff received overseas training. A total of 203 SATGAS team members attended an 80-hour course, and 563 key farmers attended a 40-hour course. However, it was noted that the transmission of knowledge and information from key farmers to group members was inadequate.

A total of 192 motorcycles and 71 vehicles were provided in Phase I, and a further 550 motorcycles and 123 vehicles in Phase II.

Both local and expatriate consultants were employed in technical and managerial roles.

Inadequate nutrition was identified as the single most important constraint on cattle production in Indonesia. Forage production improvement had, in the past, been given a low priority in government livestock development programmes. Due to a lack of land, smallholders rarely planted forage crops and for cattle fodder relied on crop residues and grass collected from the roadside.

Planned

Achieved

To develop forage seed production by providing participating farmers with credit in the form of seedlings, seed, fertilizer, herbicides and insecticides. Loans were to be repaid in the form of forage seed sale to the project. Legume species to be produced included leucaena leucocephala, siratro and stylosantles.

To introduce fodder production in cattle-distribution areas.

Seed and plants were distributed to a total of 857 farmers, leading to the formation of seed-producing groups. Of the proceeds from sales, 50% had to be placed in a designated bank account, so that farmers learned about money, savings and banking services. However, the demand for seed decreased as cattle beneficiaries in the distribution areas began to grow their own seed and rely more on forage readily available on public grazing land and roadsides.

Grass seed production of species including setaria, splendida, elephant grass and brachiaria decumbens was attempted. Mixed farming systems aimed at improving the sustainability of the dominant cropping component, while also securing forage for livestock, were designed and implemented in the distribution areas.

The Government made veterinary services and drugs available free of charge to all cattle owners in Indonesia and enforced disease control through vaccination and quarantine. This inhibited the development of commercial supply, resulting in shortages. However, there were no effective means of control for diseases such as malignant catarrhal fever and Jembrana disease. Prior to the project, research on Jembrana disease had been ongoing for some 20 years with little success. Malignant catarrhal fever is carried by sheep and has no known cure. As a result, only sheep-free areas received cattle under the project.

Planned

Achieved

To provide drugs for disease control.

To establish field services to improve animal health in the distribution areas.

To support the Bali Cattle Disease Investigation Unit, established in 1982 primarily to identify the causative organism of Jembrana disease and develop a disease-control methodology and vaccine.

Prior to shipment, cattle were quarantined in stations of the Directorate General of Livestock, vaccinated against haemorrhagic septicaemia and anthrax, treated for trypanosomiasis and tested for brucella abortus.

The SATGAS teams were set up specifically to deliver animal health services to farmers in the distribution areas. However, the shortage of veterinarians caused the number of veterinary officers to be reduced to one for every three teams. In addition, the SATGAS personnel lacked practical experience in diagnosis and symptom recognition and were therefore unable to take appropriate measures.

By 1989, the Bali Cattle Disease Investigation Unit was fully equipped and functional. By 1991, useful work had been done in characterizing the disease, identifying the causative agent and developing diagnostic procedures, control methods and a vaccine. However, the vaccine developed is costly to produce and largely unstable.