According to livestock  Population estimates, the Cattle Population for  Mwanza region is 1,175,115. Of the total Population (98%)  about 1,155,871 are indigenous cattle and 19,244 improved dairy  Cattle. Other Livestock Populations are : 523,145 goats, and 138,917 sheep some of which could be transformed into processed meat. There were as well, 61677 pigs, 6,985 donkeys and 2,588,438 chicken. Kwimba had the largest share of cattle (34 percent), followed by Misungwi (21 percent), Magu (18 percent) and Sengerema (16 percent).

Grazing land

Grazing area is another component that supports livestock keeping in the region. The main problem facing livestock keeping in the region is the shortage of grazing land. whereby the ratio of livestock to land (grazing capacity) in Mwanza region is 1:0.2Ha, this deviates from the recommended ratio which is 1:2Ha.

Estimated Grazing land area and carrying capacity by District 

Livestock infrastructures

The Region has various infrastructures which in one way or another supports production or marketing of livestock and livestock products. Livestock infrastructures include livestock markets, cattle crushers, dips, charco dams and slaughter slabs

Livestock Infrastructure Available in Mwanza Region. 

Leather Processing

Currently this activity is conducted by one Leather processing industry  at DIT (Dar es Salaam Institute of Technology), Mwanza campus. The major challenges facing Leather processing Industry includes closure of the Mwanza Taneries  Ltd, high cost of chemicals for wet blue tanning and few tanning technicians. In order to improve this sector training for more tanning technicians is highly needed also buildings for proper tanning facilities.

Meat Processing

Processing, marketing and consumption of quality meat and meat products is limited by inconsistent supply of quality animals, inadequate market information, training in meat technology, low awareness of consumers on meat quality and lack of capital for investment in meat processing plants.  To date there are two meat products processing facility i.e Chobo Investment Ltd with capacity of slaughter cattle 600/day and 920 sheep and Goats/day  located at Usagal  in Misungwi district and Alpha choice group Ltd with capacity of slaughter cattle 100/day in Magu district)

Skins and Hides Processing

An average of 541,260 pieces of hides and skins are produced annually. In Mwanza region, wet blue, salting activities are conducted by private companies which exports hides and skins. The major challenges facing skins and hides processing in Mwanza region is poor quality of hides and skins due to branding, ticks and diseases, inadequate/ poor collection facilities of hides and skins from different areas. 

Marketing of Livestock and Livestock Products

The livestock products are one of the region’s sources of income. Most of livestock are sold live and transported to various parts of the country for slaughtering. Along with live animals, other livestock products sold includes milk, eggs, hides and skins.

Dairy Industries

Milk processing is at low level. There are three  Milk processing facility, Mother Dairies (Maziwa Lishe) located at Sengerema Mission in Sengerema district that has a capacity to  process 1000Lts/day but it process only 400Lts/ day.  Other minor Milk processing facilities with processing capacities in brackets are: Mwanza Mini Dairy  (500Lts), Tukwamuane Dairy  (200Lts) both located in in MWANZA City, Nyamagana District.  Reasons for the low performance include inadequate raw milk production (due to seasonality, milk being produced in small quantities and small scale, milk producers being widely spread in remote areas) which increases milk collection and transportation costs, high cost of milk processing due to high cost of equipment, machinery, packaging materials and utilities. In addition to the poor infrastructure, high cost of doing business and low milk consumption levels also constrain milk processing.

Livestock Diseases and Public Health

Livestock diseases are among the most serious constraints limiting development of the livestock industry. The high prevalence of livestock diseases in the country such as trans boundary, vector borne, zoonoses and emerging diseases present a big challenge to the development of the livestock industry.