Village livestock population and sampling strategies in communal areas in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa

There is an urgent need for a livestock census in communal areas of the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. This study focuses on the description of the cattle, sheep, and goat populations with emphasis on the livestock distributions and population characteristics in a pilot study in two wards in communal farm land. In one of the wards, sample homogeneity was found in the cattle and goat populations. In contrast, in the second ward sheep and goat populations were found heterogeneous, and only cattle showed homogeneity. As a consequence, the use of a simple random sampling strategy for the livestock population can be recommended in one ward whereas a more complex stratified random sampling strategy is recommended for the other. The organization and logistics costs must be taken into consideration when organizing a livestock census. Therefore, the observations of this study prepare the decision on sampling schemes for future census activities. The possibility of using a complete enumeration census should not be discarded especially in areas with heterogeneous livestock populations where the organization of a complex sampling strategy can prove to be time-consuming and complicated to be executed in the field.