An introduction to the subhumid zone of West Africa and the ILCA Subhumid Zone Programme

Overview of the present status & potential for development of livestock production in the subhumid zone of West Africa and, particularly Nigeria. Describes objectives and major components of livestock systems research, an approach utilized by ILCA's Subhumid Programme, to overcome constraints of livestock production in the zone

The expected impact and future of the ILCA Subhumid Zone Programme

Discusses potential impacts of ILCA's subhumid zone programme in Nigeria in terms of the direct benefits accruing to producers from adopting its intervention packages and indirect spinoffs from a better basis for research & development strategies in the livestock sector arising from a better understanding of complex sociological cultural, economic, ecological, agronomic & livestock management interactions constituting the livestock production system gleaned from livestock system research. Suggests 9 priority items for future research with an emphasis on component research & intervention testing

A rapid survey of feeding regimes for draught cattle in Niger state, Nigeria

Reports results of a survey on feeding regimes for draught cattle in Niger state, Nigeria. presents data on dry-season feeds, and crude protein content of different feeds

Interactions between agronomy and economics in forage legume research

Highlights the interactions between agronomy and economics in developing forage production techniques for the two main land-use situations in the subhumid zone of Nigeria, viz, cultivation and fallow. Presents break-even sorghum grain-stylo price ratios for different undersowing times, capital and recurrent costs of a 4-ha fodder bank with metal fencing, and costs of obtaining crude protein from a 4-ha fodder bank and from cotton-seed cake. Summarises effect of dry-season supplementation on the productivity of Bunaji cattle under traditional management and the economic returns on fodder banks over 10 years. Presents crop-forage planting patterns used

The Sub-Saharan Africa Challenge Program: An experiment in mainstreaming institutional learning and change

The Sub-Saharan Africa Challenge Program (SSA CP) shows how the principles of institutional learning and change (ILAC) can be applied. This Brief outlines the basic components of the SSA CP and highlights various ILAC features of the Program. These include an innovation systems orientation; an approach to ‘thinking globally and acting locally’; the location of research within a broader context of policy, market and institutional change; and an emphasis on collaboration and learning among program participants and with other agencies involved in agricultural research and development in Africa

Grazing reserves in Nigeria: Problems, prospects and policy implication

Grazing reserves in Nigeria are areas set aside for the use of pastoralists and are intended to be the foci of livestock development. The stated purpose of grazing reserves is the settlement of nomadic pastoralists they offer security of tenure as an inducement to sedentarization through the provision of land for grazing and permanent water. This paper reviews problems associated with grazing reserves and offers suggestions to make them more productive and relevant to the needs of the intended beneficiaries. Although based on experience in grazing reserves in the subhumid zone of Nigeria, some of the conclusions should be applicable elsewhere

Comparison of labour requirements for cropping maize on land previously used for stylosanthes fodder banks and on adjacent fallows in the sub-humid zone of Nigeria

Examines the returns to labour from cropping fallowed land and land that has been used for stylosanthes fodder banks in the subhumid zone of Nigeria

ArDM: a ton-scale liquid Argon experiment for direct detection of Dark Matter in the Universe

The ArDM project aims at developing and operating large noble liquid detectors to search for direct evidence of Weakly Interacting Massive Particle (WIMP) as Dark Matter in the Universe. The initial goal is to design, assemble and operate a $\approx$1 ton liquid Argon prototype to demonstrate the feasibility of a ton-scale experiment with the required performance to efficiently detect and sufficiently discriminate backgrounds for a successful WIMP detection. Our design addresses the possibility to detect independently ionization and scintillation signals. In this paper, we describe this goal and the conceptual design of the detector.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, Talk given at IXth international conference on Topics in Astroparticle and Underground Physics (TAUP05), Zaragoza, (Spain

Kanwa cattle salt as a potential micronutrient fertilizer in Nigeria's middle belt

Until recently kanwa has primarily been known as a mineral supplement fed to traditionally managed cattle in central and northern Nigeria. Preliminary studies carried out by ILCA's Subhumid Zone Programme in 1984 indicated its potential as an economically attractive source of plant micronutrients. A 200 kg/ha increase in the crude protein yield of stylo (Stylosanthes hamata cv. Verano) was obtained by applying 50kg of kanwa per ha, at a total cost of only US$ 5.00