Salient considerations to address forage seeds access and use in eastern Africa

While the primary obstacles to enhancing ruminant productivity in eastern Africa are well-documented, practical measures to address them are imperative. In this study, we focused on enhancing access to forage seeds for cultivation in cattle systems in several eastern African countries, namely Ethiop...

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Autores principales: Mwendia, Solomon, Burkart, Stefan, Notenbaert, An, Peters, Michael
Formato: Póster
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: 2024
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/152476
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author Mwendia, Solomon
Burkart, Stefan
Notenbaert, An
Peters, Michael
author_browse Burkart, Stefan
Mwendia, Solomon
Notenbaert, An
Peters, Michael
author_facet Mwendia, Solomon
Burkart, Stefan
Notenbaert, An
Peters, Michael
author_sort Mwendia, Solomon
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description While the primary obstacles to enhancing ruminant productivity in eastern Africa are well-documented, practical measures to address them are imperative. In this study, we focused on enhancing access to forage seeds for cultivation in cattle systems in several eastern African countries, namely Ethiopia, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, and Burundi. Drawing from existing literature, we examined factors such as ruminant population, feed dry matter deficits, and governmental priorities concerning cattle. The lack of access to forage seeds, coupled with a reluctance to invest in what is perceived as expensive elite improved forages, poses a significant challenge. Many farmers rely on vegetative planting materials, often utilising outdated improved materials that have not been adequately maintained for purity. Our analysis indicates a pressing need to transition to recently improved materials through rigorous selection and breeding processes to ensure sustained quality. To address the perceived high cost of seeds, there is a critical need to explore domestic seed production within the continent rather than relying on imports, which incur additional transport costs and other logistic and administrative burdens, such as complex variety registration processes. Given the nascent stage of the forage seed market in Africa, coordinated seed production efforts targeting a pooled market across multiple countries would be more economically viable than individual national initiatives. The development of such market would help fostering adoption levels of improved forages and promises a triple-win scenario, offering increased productivity, environmental benefits (including reduced methane production intensity), and alignment with the regional governments' ambitious agendas for the sector.
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spelling CGSpace1524762025-11-05T11:51:48Z Salient considerations to address forage seeds access and use in eastern Africa Mwendia, Solomon Burkart, Stefan Notenbaert, An Peters, Michael productivity seeds forage semilla productividad forraje ruminants rumiante While the primary obstacles to enhancing ruminant productivity in eastern Africa are well-documented, practical measures to address them are imperative. In this study, we focused on enhancing access to forage seeds for cultivation in cattle systems in several eastern African countries, namely Ethiopia, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, and Burundi. Drawing from existing literature, we examined factors such as ruminant population, feed dry matter deficits, and governmental priorities concerning cattle. The lack of access to forage seeds, coupled with a reluctance to invest in what is perceived as expensive elite improved forages, poses a significant challenge. Many farmers rely on vegetative planting materials, often utilising outdated improved materials that have not been adequately maintained for purity. Our analysis indicates a pressing need to transition to recently improved materials through rigorous selection and breeding processes to ensure sustained quality. To address the perceived high cost of seeds, there is a critical need to explore domestic seed production within the continent rather than relying on imports, which incur additional transport costs and other logistic and administrative burdens, such as complex variety registration processes. Given the nascent stage of the forage seed market in Africa, coordinated seed production efforts targeting a pooled market across multiple countries would be more economically viable than individual national initiatives. The development of such market would help fostering adoption levels of improved forages and promises a triple-win scenario, offering increased productivity, environmental benefits (including reduced methane production intensity), and alignment with the regional governments' ambitious agendas for the sector. 2024-09-12 2024-09-29T22:15:23Z 2024-09-29T22:15:23Z Poster https://hdl.handle.net/10568/152476 en Open Access application/pdf Mwendia, S.; Burkart, S.; Notenbaert, A.; Peters, M. (2024) Salient considerations to address forage seeds access and use in eastern Africa. Poster prepared for Tropentag: Explore opportunities... for managing natural resources and a better life for all, on 11-13 September 2024 in Vienna (Austria). 1 p.
spellingShingle productivity
seeds
forage
semilla
productividad
forraje
ruminants
rumiante
Mwendia, Solomon
Burkart, Stefan
Notenbaert, An
Peters, Michael
Salient considerations to address forage seeds access and use in eastern Africa
title Salient considerations to address forage seeds access and use in eastern Africa
title_full Salient considerations to address forage seeds access and use in eastern Africa
title_fullStr Salient considerations to address forage seeds access and use in eastern Africa
title_full_unstemmed Salient considerations to address forage seeds access and use in eastern Africa
title_short Salient considerations to address forage seeds access and use in eastern Africa
title_sort salient considerations to address forage seeds access and use in eastern africa
topic productivity
seeds
forage
semilla
productividad
forraje
ruminants
rumiante
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/152476
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AT burkartstefan salientconsiderationstoaddressforageseedsaccessanduseineasternafrica
AT notenbaertan salientconsiderationstoaddressforageseedsaccessanduseineasternafrica
AT petersmichael salientconsiderationstoaddressforageseedsaccessanduseineasternafrica