Climate Change Adaptation in Vulnerable Crop and Livestock Production Systems in Mgeta, Tanzania

Awareness regarding effects of climate change on the environment and livelihoods is becoming more apparent than at any time before (Elisha, 2006). Among the farming systems that have attracted the attention in Tanzania, are those in Mgeta in thehigh altitude water catchment area in the Uluguru Mountains. Land degradation have been widely reported in Mgeta (Ponte, 2001), and is currently threatening the source of water for domestic use and livelihoods of the local communities. Increased occurrence of droughts and dry spells during the growing seasons might reinforce the problem. A robust cropping system toreplace the erosion vulnerable vegetables seems needed if agriculture is to persist in the area. Farmers in Mgeta grow vegetables in pure stand and in intercropping systems on bench terraces and in steep slopes, especially tomatoes, potatoes, cabbage, beans, green peas and maize. Besides, traditional goats (free roaming) and pigs are kept for meat and manure for the vegetables. In 1988, Norwegian dairy goats were introduced and currently farmers upgrade the local goats by crossing with dairy bucks. The dairy goats are tethered or kept indoors to avoid land degradation due to overgrazing. Expanding goat milk production might be advantageous since a market for milk, or milk products such as yoghurt, can be found both locally and in the neighboring towns. In this paper a traditional cropping-livestock system with meat goats and pigs and extensive vegetable production is compared with dairy goats and more use of multi-purpose trees (MPTs) and grass and less vegetables

Critical Assessment of Metagenome Interpretation:A benchmark of metagenomics software

International audienceIn metagenome analysis, computational methods for assembly, taxonomic profilingand binning are key components facilitating downstream biological datainterpretation. However, a lack of consensus about benchmarking datasets andevaluation metrics complicates proper performance assessment. The CriticalAssessment of Metagenome Interpretation (CAMI) challenge has engaged the globaldeveloper community to benchmark their programs on datasets of unprecedentedcomplexity and realism. Benchmark metagenomes were generated from newlysequenced ~700 microorganisms and ~600 novel viruses and plasmids, includinggenomes with varying degrees of relatedness to each other and to publicly availableones and representing common experimental setups. Across all datasets, assemblyand genome binning programs performed well for species represented by individualgenomes, while performance was substantially affected by the presence of relatedstrains. Taxonomic profiling and binning programs were proficient at high taxonomicranks, with a notable performance decrease below the family level. Parametersettings substantially impacted performances, underscoring the importance ofprogram reproducibility. While highlighting current challenges in computationalmetagenomics, the CAMI results provide a roadmap for software selection to answerspecific research questions

The effects of a deferred grazing system on rangeland vegetation in a north-western, semi-arid region of Tanzania

The present study assessed the effects of deferred grazing management on rangeland condition using aboveground biomass, vegetation cover and species composition as indicators of range condition. The experiment was based on traditionally conserved exclosures (ngitili). Data were collected in Shinyanga rural and Meatu districts, Tanzania, from October to November 2011. Five grazing strategies were compared: old private ngitili, young private ngitili, old communal ngitili, young communal ngitili and continuously grazed land. Aboveground biomass was significantly higher in old private ngitili than continuously grazed land, but there was no significant difference in amount of biomass between communal ngitili and continuously grazed land. The mean percentage basal cover was significantly higher in ngitili than continuously grazed land. The duration of protection (old ngitili compared with young ngitili) was not found to have any significant influence on both aboveground herbaceous biomass production and basal cover. The Shannon–Wiener index and Simpson index of diversity revealed no significant differences in species diversity among the different strategies. Both the continuously grazed land and communal ngitili were generally in poor condition and a special rehabilitation programme for improvement of these fragile grazing lands should be investigated.Keywords: biomass, grazing management, ngitili, species diversity, vegetation coverAfrican Journal of Range & Forage Science 2013, 30(3): 141–14

Adapting seasonal sheep production to year-round fresh meat and halal market in Norway

Norway is the largest sheep meat producer among Nordic countries with more than 1.3 million lambs and sheep slaughtered in 2017. The sheep industry is limited by the need for in-house feeding during the winter months. In summer, Norwegian sheep are mainly kept on rangeland pastures, with sufficient feed for almost double the current sheep population. Lambs are slaughtered over a three- to four-month period from September to December with a peak in September–October, providing a surplus of lamb, much of which is subsequently frozen, followed by eight months during which fresh produce is in limited supply. Norwegian consumers eat an average of 5.4 kg of sheep meat per person per year, much of which is purchased as a frozen product. The Muslim (4.2% of the population) preference for year-round halal meat, with an increased demand on the eve of the Muslim meat festival (Eid al-Adha), has the potential to boost demand, particularly in Oslo. This paper provides an overview of the Norwegian sheep farming system, the current market value chains, and the potential to meet the demand for halal meat in Norway (specifically during the Muslim meat festival—Eid al-Adha) to the advantage of both consumers and sheep farmers