A comparison between urban livestock production strategies in Burkina Faso, Mali and Nigeria in West Africa

We undertook a comparative analysis of (peri-)urban livestock production strategies across three West African cities. Using a semi-structured questionnaire, livestock-keeping households (HH) were interviewed in Kano/Nigeria (84 HH), Bobo Dioulasso/Burkina Faso (63 HH) and Sikasso/Mali (63 HH). Questions covered livestock species kept, herd sizes and structure, feeds used, manure management, livestock marketing and production constraints. Sheep and goats dominated (p¿¿0.05), but the proportion of HH heads with a long-term experience in UPA activities was higher in Kano and in Bobo Dioulasso than in Sikasso (p

Characterization of urban and peri-urban agroecosystems in three West African cities

Systems of urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA) take many forms in terms of integration of different activities, production intensities and production orientations. The present study is aimed at a refined characterization of the diversity in terms of production orientation, resource endowments and production strategies of the different types of farm households involved in urban and peri-urban agriculture in three West African cities. A total of 318 UPA households were surveyed using a standardized semi-structured questionnaire in the West African cities Kano (Nigeria), Bobo Dioulasso (Burkina Faso) and Sikasso (Mali). Through categorical principal component analysis and two-step cluster analysis, six distinct household clusters were identified based on resource endowments and the degree of integration of vegetable, field crop and animal production. Three clusters appeared in all three cities; the remaining three were specific for one of the cities each and comprised (i) commercial gardening plus field crop-livestock (cGCL) keeping, (ii) commercial livestock plus subsistence field cropping (cLsC), (iii) commercial gardening plus semi-commercial field cropping (cGscC), (iv) commercial gardening plus semi-commercial livestock (cGscL) keeping, (v) commercial field cropping (cC) and (vi) commercial gardening (cG). Production constraints were similar across the cities, that is, high costs of inputs, water shortages and lack of fertilizers in the garden and field crop production systems, while feeding constraints and animal diseases were the main constraints in livestock production. UPA remains an important economic activity to livelihood strategy for urban and peri-urban farmers. Appropriate policies should be formulated that efficiently target the site-specific constraints for improving the quality and sustainability of UPA production systems

Local feeding strategies allow to reduce enteric methane emission from cattle in Sahel

Session 59 - Théâtre 5International audienceIn Africa, a large diversity of diets (forage + staple food crop residues or other agricultural byproducts) is used by cattle herders in different production systems. It is reported that feeding strategies could help to reduce enteric methane (eCH 4 ) in ruminants by up to 55%. In order to test different feeding strategies, a trial was carried out (CIRDES, Burkina Faso) on 10 Sudanese peulh zebu steers (32 months of age) with live weight (LW) 147±5.8 kg (i.e. 0.59 Tropical Livestock Unit). Animals were kept in individual box and were fed at 3.5% LW with natural pasture and cropbyproducts (75:25, DM basis). Individual eCH4 (GreenFeed system) and total tract digestibility were measured. The 6 main crop byproducts used in cattle diet were identified with a survey from farmers: legume haulm-based diets (cowpea and peanut haulms), and cereal straw-based diets (maize, sorghum, millet and rice straws). For each crop byproduct, the experiment consisted in 3 weeks, including 2 weeks of feed adaptation and 1 week of data collection. Basal diets consisted in natural forage hay (CTL hay) to test cereal crops, and Panicum maximum hay (CTL Pm) to test legume crops. Dry matter intake (DMI, g/kg LW) were on average 18.0±1.92 in cereal straw diets vs 16.4±2.06 in CTL hay; and 25.5±1.69 in legume haulm diets vs 21.7±2.29 in CTL Pm. The DM digestibility (%) were 48.1±3.01 in cereal straw diets vs 46.0±3.05 in CTL hay; and in legume haulm diets 49.8±1.4 vs 48.7±6.1 in CTL Pm. Intake content was lower in fibre for cereal straw and legume haulm diets compared to their control (NDF, g/kg DMI, 664±26.7 and 611±8.5 vs 734±13.6 and 712±14.0, respectively). Amounts of eCH4 (g/kg DMI) emitted were 26.5±6.85 in cereal straw diets vs 30.6±7.17 in CTL hay; and 24.0±4.26 in legume haulm diets vs 27.9±4.66 CTL Pm. Complementation with cereal and legume crops reduced by 13 and 21% eCH4 yield