Animal Draft in the Cotton Savannah New Context in Chad, Cameroon and the Central African Republic. I. Expansion and Role on the Farms

Animal draft has been used for a very long time in sub-Saharan Africa, but it underwent many changes. The Central Africa savannah zone counts about 260,000 animal teams – 40% of farms are equipped in Chad, 25% in Cameroon and 10% in the Central African Republic. Two-oxen systems prevail. In production systems, animal power is primarily used for ploughing and secondarily for maintenance and transport. Animal draft has major agronomic (mechanization, agriculturelivestock integration) and socioeconomic functions. The equipment phase is a strategic time for the farmer. Since 1950, cotton companies have proposed equipment credits and technical aid that highly contributed to animal draft development. Farmers invested a large part of cotton revenues into this technique