Improved feeding and forages at a crossroads: Farming systems approaches for sustainable livestock development in East Africa
Dairy development provides substantial potential economic opportunities for smallholder farmers in East Africa, but productivity is constrained by the scarcity of quantity and quality feed. Ruminant livestock production is also associated with negative environmental impacts, including greenhouse gas...
| Autores principales: | , , , , , |
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| Formato: | Journal Article |
| Lenguaje: | Inglés |
| Publicado: |
SAGE Publications
2020
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| Materias: | |
| Acceso en línea: | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/107432 |
| _version_ | 1855523329037828096 |
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| author | Paul, Birthe K. Groot, Jeroen C.J. Maass, Brigitte L. Notenbaert, An Maria Omer Herrero, Mario Tittonell, Pablo A. |
| author_browse | Groot, Jeroen C.J. Herrero, Mario Maass, Brigitte L. Notenbaert, An Maria Omer Paul, Birthe K. Tittonell, Pablo A. |
| author_facet | Paul, Birthe K. Groot, Jeroen C.J. Maass, Brigitte L. Notenbaert, An Maria Omer Herrero, Mario Tittonell, Pablo A. |
| author_sort | Paul, Birthe K. |
| collection | Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace) |
| description | Dairy development provides substantial potential economic opportunities for smallholder farmers in East Africa, but productivity is constrained by the scarcity of quantity and quality feed. Ruminant livestock production is also associated with negative environmental impacts, including greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, air pollution, high water consumption, land-use change, and loss of biodiversity. Improved livestock feeding and forages have been highlighted as key entry point to sustainable intensification, increasing food security, and decreasing environmental trade-offs including GHG emission intensities. In this perspective article, we argue that farming systems approaches are essential to understand the multiple roles and impacts of forages in smallholder livelihoods. First, we outline the unique position of forages in crop-livestock systems and systemic obstacles to adoption that call for multidisciplinary thinking. Second, we discuss the importance of matching forage technologies with agroecological and socioeconomic contexts and niches, and systems agronomy that is required. Third, we demonstrate the usefulness of farming systems modeling to estimate multidimensional impacts of forages and for reducing agro-environmental trade-offs. We conclude that improved forages in East Africa are at a crossroads: if adopted by farmers at scale, they can be a cornerstone of pathways toward sustainable livestock systems in East Africa. |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | CGSpace107432 |
| institution | CGIAR Consortium |
| language | Inglés |
| publishDate | 2020 |
| publishDateRange | 2020 |
| publishDateSort | 2020 |
| publisher | SAGE Publications |
| publisherStr | SAGE Publications |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | CGSpace1074322025-11-12T05:55:05Z Improved feeding and forages at a crossroads: Farming systems approaches for sustainable livestock development in East Africa Paul, Birthe K. Groot, Jeroen C.J. Maass, Brigitte L. Notenbaert, An Maria Omer Herrero, Mario Tittonell, Pablo A. feed crops farming systems livestock feeding livestock intensification agronomy systems grasses forage sistemas de explotation alimentation del ganado ganado Dairy development provides substantial potential economic opportunities for smallholder farmers in East Africa, but productivity is constrained by the scarcity of quantity and quality feed. Ruminant livestock production is also associated with negative environmental impacts, including greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, air pollution, high water consumption, land-use change, and loss of biodiversity. Improved livestock feeding and forages have been highlighted as key entry point to sustainable intensification, increasing food security, and decreasing environmental trade-offs including GHG emission intensities. In this perspective article, we argue that farming systems approaches are essential to understand the multiple roles and impacts of forages in smallholder livelihoods. First, we outline the unique position of forages in crop-livestock systems and systemic obstacles to adoption that call for multidisciplinary thinking. Second, we discuss the importance of matching forage technologies with agroecological and socioeconomic contexts and niches, and systems agronomy that is required. Third, we demonstrate the usefulness of farming systems modeling to estimate multidimensional impacts of forages and for reducing agro-environmental trade-offs. We conclude that improved forages in East Africa are at a crossroads: if adopted by farmers at scale, they can be a cornerstone of pathways toward sustainable livestock systems in East Africa. 2020-03 2020-03-09T17:20:04Z 2020-03-09T17:20:04Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/107432 en Open Access application/pdf SAGE Publications Paul, B.K.; Groot, J.C.; Maass, B.L.; Notenbaert, A.M.; Herrero, M.; Tittonell, P.A. (2020) Improved feeding and forages at a crossroads: Farming systems approaches for sustainable livestock development in East Africa. Outlook on Agriculture 8 p. ISSN: 2043-6866 |
| spellingShingle | feed crops farming systems livestock feeding livestock intensification agronomy systems grasses forage sistemas de explotation alimentation del ganado ganado Paul, Birthe K. Groot, Jeroen C.J. Maass, Brigitte L. Notenbaert, An Maria Omer Herrero, Mario Tittonell, Pablo A. Improved feeding and forages at a crossroads: Farming systems approaches for sustainable livestock development in East Africa |
| title | Improved feeding and forages at a crossroads: Farming systems approaches for sustainable livestock development in East Africa |
| title_full | Improved feeding and forages at a crossroads: Farming systems approaches for sustainable livestock development in East Africa |
| title_fullStr | Improved feeding and forages at a crossroads: Farming systems approaches for sustainable livestock development in East Africa |
| title_full_unstemmed | Improved feeding and forages at a crossroads: Farming systems approaches for sustainable livestock development in East Africa |
| title_short | Improved feeding and forages at a crossroads: Farming systems approaches for sustainable livestock development in East Africa |
| title_sort | improved feeding and forages at a crossroads farming systems approaches for sustainable livestock development in east africa |
| topic | feed crops farming systems livestock feeding livestock intensification agronomy systems grasses forage sistemas de explotation alimentation del ganado ganado |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/107432 |
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