Assessment of water productivity and entry points for improvement in mixed crop-livestock systems of the Ethiopian highlands

Crop-livestock systems are very important both in terms of area and contribution to people’s livelihoods in the Ethiopian highlands. However, a common problem in these systems is low livestock and crop productivity, which is partly caused by water scarcity and environmental degradation. As water is...

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Autores principales: Descheemaeker, Katrien K., Haileslassie, Amare, Amede, Tilahun, Bossio, Deborah A., Tarawali, Shirley A.
Formato: Journal Article
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: Elsevier 2010
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/2984
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author Descheemaeker, Katrien K.
Haileslassie, Amare
Amede, Tilahun
Bossio, Deborah A.
Tarawali, Shirley A.
author_browse Amede, Tilahun
Bossio, Deborah A.
Descheemaeker, Katrien K.
Haileslassie, Amare
Tarawali, Shirley A.
author_facet Descheemaeker, Katrien K.
Haileslassie, Amare
Amede, Tilahun
Bossio, Deborah A.
Tarawali, Shirley A.
author_sort Descheemaeker, Katrien K.
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Crop-livestock systems are very important both in terms of area and contribution to people’s livelihoods in the Ethiopian highlands. However, a common problem in these systems is low livestock and crop productivity, which is partly caused by water scarcity and environmental degradation. As water is a key and often limiting input for agriculture and environmental functioning, there is an urgent need to improve water productivity in order to sustain both people’s livelihoods and a healthy environment. Water productivity, generally defined as the ratio of agricultural outputs to the volume of water depleted, measures the ability of agricultural systems to convert water into food. In the crop sector, crop water productivity (CWP) has been investigated for many years. By contrast, livestock water productivity (LWP) is a new concept (Peden et al., 2009), for which reference points, standardized definitions and adequate methods for water partitioning are still in their infancy (Descheemaeker et al., 2010). Also, a systems approach for analyzing water productivity in mixed systems is still to be developed, tested and adapted. This paper therefore examines how water productivity can be assessed in mixed crop-livestock systems, and identifies entry points for water productivity improvement with the wider aim to improve the sustainability of the systems.
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spelling CGSpace29842024-04-25T06:01:31Z Assessment of water productivity and entry points for improvement in mixed crop-livestock systems of the Ethiopian highlands Descheemaeker, Katrien K. Haileslassie, Amare Amede, Tilahun Bossio, Deborah A. Tarawali, Shirley A. water mixed farming Crop-livestock systems are very important both in terms of area and contribution to people’s livelihoods in the Ethiopian highlands. However, a common problem in these systems is low livestock and crop productivity, which is partly caused by water scarcity and environmental degradation. As water is a key and often limiting input for agriculture and environmental functioning, there is an urgent need to improve water productivity in order to sustain both people’s livelihoods and a healthy environment. Water productivity, generally defined as the ratio of agricultural outputs to the volume of water depleted, measures the ability of agricultural systems to convert water into food. In the crop sector, crop water productivity (CWP) has been investigated for many years. By contrast, livestock water productivity (LWP) is a new concept (Peden et al., 2009), for which reference points, standardized definitions and adequate methods for water partitioning are still in their infancy (Descheemaeker et al., 2010). Also, a systems approach for analyzing water productivity in mixed systems is still to be developed, tested and adapted. This paper therefore examines how water productivity can be assessed in mixed crop-livestock systems, and identifies entry points for water productivity improvement with the wider aim to improve the sustainability of the systems. 2010 2010-12-13T12:01:10Z 2010-12-13T12:01:10Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/2984 en Limited Access Elsevier Descheemaeker, K., Haileslassie, A., Amede, T., Bossio, D. and Tarawali, S. 2010. Assessment of water productivity and entry points for improvement in mixed crop-livestock systems of the Ethiopian highlands. Advances in Animal Biosciences 1(2):491-492.
spellingShingle water
mixed farming
Descheemaeker, Katrien K.
Haileslassie, Amare
Amede, Tilahun
Bossio, Deborah A.
Tarawali, Shirley A.
Assessment of water productivity and entry points for improvement in mixed crop-livestock systems of the Ethiopian highlands
title Assessment of water productivity and entry points for improvement in mixed crop-livestock systems of the Ethiopian highlands
title_full Assessment of water productivity and entry points for improvement in mixed crop-livestock systems of the Ethiopian highlands
title_fullStr Assessment of water productivity and entry points for improvement in mixed crop-livestock systems of the Ethiopian highlands
title_full_unstemmed Assessment of water productivity and entry points for improvement in mixed crop-livestock systems of the Ethiopian highlands
title_short Assessment of water productivity and entry points for improvement in mixed crop-livestock systems of the Ethiopian highlands
title_sort assessment of water productivity and entry points for improvement in mixed crop livestock systems of the ethiopian highlands
topic water
mixed farming
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/2984
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