Entry Points to Improve Livestock Water Productivity in Selected Forage Based Livestock Systems

Agricultural production is challenged by increasing water scarcity and simultaneously growing demands for food and feed. Globally livestock feed sourcing is seen as one of the major causes for water depletion, and therefore increasing livestock water productivity (LWP) is necessary. Feed sources in Forage Based Livestock Production Systems [FLPS (grazing, mixed-irrigated and mixed-rain-fed)] largely consist of pasture, crop residue, or immature cereal crops, and also plants cut for fodder and carried to the animals. In drylands (arid and semi-arid) eco-regions, FLPS are generally extensive and thus the scale of water depletion for feed production is a major concern. This paper synthesizes LWP-knowledge generated across different FLPS over time and systematically identifies entry points to enhance productive uses of fresh water resources. It draws on examples of grazing systems in Uganda (Nile basin), mixed-rainfed systems in Ethiopia (Nile basin), mixed-irrigated systems in Sudan (Nile basin), and mixed-irrigated systems in India (Indio-Gangetic basin). Although these systems vary by their degree of intensification, scale of water related problems, and therefore in their values of LWP, a number of common entry points to increase LWP can be identified. Based on empirical evidence from these systems, we systematically clustered these entry points as: i) improving the water productivity of feed; ii) improving livestock feed sourcing and feeding; iii) enhancing livestock feed use efficiencies; iv) enabling institutions and market linkages to facilitate adoption of relevant technologies. The paper concludes by discussing a comprehensive framework for entry points to improve water productivity in FLPS

Integrating legumes while increasing maize yields – five seasons of co-learning in western Kenya

Sustainable intensification of smallholder agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is a key pathway to provide food for the growing population (e.g. SDSN 2013; Vanlauwe et al. 2014). Grain legumes are seen as a central option for sustainable intensification as they fix nitrogen (N) from the air (reducing the need for mineral N fertiliser), are nutritious food and can be more profitable than staple crops such as maize (Giller et al. 2013). Yet adoption of options for sustainable intensification is often limited by knowledge and resource constraints, due to the poverty trap within which smallholder farmers operate (Tittonell and Giller 2013). The objective of this study was to assess the outcomes of a trajectory of five seasons of co-learning, when resource constraints are partly alleviated. This paper focuses on the adoption process oflegumes as part of the intensified maize-legume cropping system, which together comprise the main crop component of the farming systems

Identifying changes in agricultural practices and policy interventions for sustainable intensification of farm systems in southern Mali

Achieving sustainable development goals for smallholder rural populations within the next eleven years is challenging: besides environmental and climate pressures, rising rural population and unfavorable institutional arrangements diminish the room to manoeuvre within the current system’s settings. New farming practices and progressive policies to trigger and support drastic changes are needed. A large array of innovative farming practices have been developed across sub-Saharan Africa (e.g. Snapp et al., 2010). Our objective was to grasp the scale of the challenge: what is the potential of changes in farm practices to improve farming sustainability in southern Mali, a region that is representative for land-scarce sub-Saharan Africa?Which policies are needed to support sustainable development

Integrated soil fertility management in sub-Saharan Africa: unravelling local adaptation

Intensification of smallholder agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa is necessary to address rural poverty and natural resource degradation. Integrated Soil Fertility Management (ISFM) is a means to enhance crop productivity while maximizing the agronomic efficiency (AE) of applied inputs, and can thus contribute to sustainable intensification. ISFM consists of a set of best practices, preferably used in combination, including the use of appropriate germplasm, the appropriate use of fertilizer and of organic resources, and good agronomic practices. The large variability in soil fertility conditions within smallholder farms is also recognised within ISFM, including soils with constraints beyond those addressed by fertilizer and organic inputs. The variable biophysical environments that characterize smallholder farming systems have profound effects on crop productivity and AE and targeted application of limited agro-inputs and management practices is necessary to enhance AE. Further, management decisions depend on the farmer's resource endowments and production objectives. In this paper we discuss the "local adaptation" component of ISFM and how this can be conceptualized within an ISFM framework, backstopped by analysis of AE at plot and farm level. At plot level, a set of four constraints to maximum AE is discussed in relation to "local adaptation": soil acidity, secondary nutrient and micro-nutrient (SMN) deficiencies, physical constraints, and drought stress. In each of these cases, examples are presented whereby amendments and/or practices addressing these have a significantly positive impact on fertilizer AE, including mechanistic principles underlying these effects. While the impact of such amendments and/or practices is easily understood for some practices (e.g., the application of SMNs where these are limiting), for others, more complex interactions with fertilizer AE can be identified (e.g., water harvesting under varying rainfall conditions). At farm scale, adjusting fertilizer applications within-farm soil fertility gradients has the potential to increase AE compared with blanket recommendations, in particular where fertility gradients are strong. In the final section, "local adaption" is discussed in relation to scale issues and decision support tools are evaluated as a means to create a better understanding of complexity at farm level and to communicate best scenarios for allocating agro-inputs and management practices within heterogeneous farming environments