What is Game Farming in Agriculture?

Game farming can be defined as the method of farming where wild animals are utilized as livestock in place of domesticated animals. The success of any game farm is a function of running the farm based on the carrying capacity of the available land mass (total land area), with respect to hunting or game viewing. However, hunting or game viewing could be considered as tourist function. In terms of advancement game farming has undergone some level of agricultural innovation which projected it into a paramount subsector of agri-business and agricultural economy in Africa.

What is the Purpose of a Game Farm?

A game farm can be defined as an area use for rearing of wild animals for different products such as food, meat, hides and feathers. The term equally includes areas where animals are sold for food or photography. Game farming involves rearing of undomesticated animals for their diverse yields (food, meat, hides, feathers and photography) using intensive, small-pasture assemblage and conferment of undomesticated animals in semi domesticated conditions where animals are given necessary fed to promote growth or weight gain and harvested for human consumption. The purpose of a game farm is to produce food, meat, hides and feathers for sales. However, photography and wildlife conservation are some of the reasons for setting up a game farm.

What do Game Farms do?

Privately owned game farm keeps crocodile, eland, guinea fowl, elk, zebra, deer and ostrich behind large boundaries, slaughter them for meat, hides and feathers. Apart from that they also give an invite to hunters that are ready to pay for a permit to shoot game. It is equally a kind of wildlife killing arrangement that is guaranteed (canned hunts). This is about sport shooting of animals on the farm (zoo pen). Game farms are multiplying rapidly in Africa, if this operation is not properly monitored, it may one day result to packaging of lion meat in a can or other forms of hunting that may be considered to be unethical in wildlife conservation and management. Some wildlife species are well adapted to grassland and additional conditions because their negative impact (damage) on the environment is less coupled with their ability to resist diseases. For example among the birds: guinea fowl and ostrich are well adapted, whereas impala, kudu, waterbuck, eland, nyala and zebra are well adapted among the herbivore.

However, crocodiles are well adapted among the aquatic wildlife that are carnivorous. That is why it is very easily to set up a game farm made up of either guinea fowl, ostrich, eland, zebra or crocodile. In recent increase in establishment of game farm in Africa is a function of its profitability compared to domestic stock farms. The success of any game farm depends on the ability of the farm manager to run the farm based on the carrying capacity of the total land mass set aside for farming. The farm manager must ensuring that the carrying capacity of the land is not exceeded, by so do there is a high possibility of running the farm successfully and equally incorporate tourist function, for instance game viewing or hunting. Based on knowledge, serious grazing shortage has not be document as long as animals are kept from diseases infestation such as foot and mouth disease which may be transmitted from infected animals to healthy animals. Once disease control measures are put in place, financial stability can be guaranteed. This is the only way of running a game farm that is self-sufficient and sustainable

Why is Game Farming Important in Africa?

In agricultural businesses, Game farming (Wildlife ranching) is considered to be one of the sectors growing rapidly in a positive direction over the years. However, the importance of game farming are;

i. Provision of food for man

ii. It generates foreign exchange and attention through recreation and tourism

iii. It creates excellence jobs that are sustainable especially in remote areas

iv. It regenerate deteriorating life processes in remote areas

v. It stimulates sustainable management of natural resources which are Africans irreplaceable inheritance

vi. It encourages conservation of wildlife species, natural habitat and ecosystems