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...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | info:ar-repo/semantics/artículo |
| Language: | Inglés |
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SAGE Publishing
2023
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12123/15032 https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0030727020906170 https://doi.org/10.1177/0030727020906170 |
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| author | Paul, Birthe K. Groot, Jeroen C.J. Maass, Brigitte L. Notenbaert, An Mo Herrero, Mario Tittonell, Pablo Adrian |
| author_browse | Groot, Jeroen C.J. Herrero, Mario Maass, Brigitte L. Notenbaert, An Mo Paul, Birthe K. Tittonell, Pablo Adrian |
| author_facet | Paul, Birthe K. Groot, Jeroen C.J. Maass, Brigitte L. Notenbaert, An Mo Herrero, Mario Tittonell, Pablo Adrian |
| author_sort | Paul, Birthe K. |
| collection | INTA Digital |
| 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 | info:ar-repo/semantics/artículo |
| id | INTA15032 |
| institution | Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA -Argentina) |
| language | Inglés |
| publishDate | 2023 |
| publishDateRange | 2023 |
| publishDateSort | 2023 |
| publisher | SAGE Publishing |
| publisherStr | SAGE Publishing |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | INTA150322023-08-28T17:14:29Z 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 Mo Herrero, Mario Tittonell, Pablo Adrian Sistemas de Explotación Alimentación del Ganado Intensificación Sostenible Adopción de Tecnología Farming Systems Livestock Feeding Sustainable Intensification Technology Adoption Sub-saharan Sub-sahariano 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 (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. EEA Bariloche Fil: Paul, Birthe K. International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT).Tropical Forages Program; Kenia Fil: Paul, Birthe K. Wageningen University and Research. Department of Farming Systems Ecology; Países Bajos Fil: Groot, Jeroen C.J. Wageningen University and Research. Department of Farming Systems Ecology; Países Bajos Fil: Maass, Brigitte L. Georg-August-University of Göttingen. Department for Crop Sciences. Division of Crop Production Systems in the Tropics; Alemania Fil: Notenbaert, An Mo. International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT).Tropical Forages Program; Kenia Notenbaert, An Mo. Wageningen University and Research. Department of Farming Systems Ecology; Países Bajos Fil. Herrero, Mario. Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO). Agriculture and Food; Australia Fil: Tittonell, Pablo Adrian. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Bariloche. Instituto de Investigaciones Forestales y Agropecuarias; Argentina Fil: Tittonell, Pablo Adrián. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas; Argentina Fil: Tittonell, Pablo Adrian. Groningen University. Institute of Evolutionary Life Science; Países Bajos Fil: Tittonell, Pablo Adrian. Universite de Montpellier. Centre de cooperation Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Developpement. Agroecologie et Intensification Durable; Francia 2023-08-28T17:03:30Z 2023-08-28T17:03:30Z 2020 info:ar-repo/semantics/artículo info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12123/15032 https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0030727020906170 2043-6866 0030-7270 https://doi.org/10.1177/0030727020906170 eng info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/ Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) application/pdf SAGE Publishing Outlook on Agriculture 49 (1) : 13-20 (2020) |
| spellingShingle | Sistemas de Explotación Alimentación del Ganado Intensificación Sostenible Adopción de Tecnología Farming Systems Livestock Feeding Sustainable Intensification Technology Adoption Sub-saharan Sub-sahariano Africa Paul, Birthe K. Groot, Jeroen C.J. Maass, Brigitte L. Notenbaert, An Mo Herrero, Mario Tittonell, Pablo Adrian 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 | Sistemas de Explotación Alimentación del Ganado Intensificación Sostenible Adopción de Tecnología Farming Systems Livestock Feeding Sustainable Intensification Technology Adoption Sub-saharan Sub-sahariano Africa |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12123/15032 https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0030727020906170 https://doi.org/10.1177/0030727020906170 |
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