A review of integrated surveys for resource inventory and monitoring of pastoral production systems in sub-Saharan Africa

Reviews various approaches and techniques used in a number of sub-Saharan African countries to collect and analyze data on large-scale ecological changes with particular reference to remote sensing and monitoring techniques in resource inventory; suggests ways to build more effective data bases

Integration of remote sensing techniques for resource evaluation in pastoral systems research

Reviews most recent applications of methodologies for resource surveys appropriate to pastoral & agro-pastoral regions in Africa, with particular reference to remote sensing methodologies, viz. satellite imagery, aerial photography, side-looking radar (SLR), spectral radiance and low-altitutde aerial survey. Discusses the integration of remote sensing techniques with ground truth within the context of rapid appraisal methods and early warning procedures within a livestock systems research approach

Impact of human activities and livestock on the African environment: An attempt to partition the pressure

The impact of human endeavours on the environment in the struggle to eke out a living through crop and animal agriculture is examined in a holistic context. Analyses focus on all the sources of pressure that modify the vegetation cover of rural Africa, including the effects of fires and burning of biomass, fuel wood extraction and deforestation and land clearing

Aspects of livestock productivity in Maasai group ranches in Kenya

Analyzes the output of the Maasai pastoral system by examining three group ranches in the Kajiado District in Kenya, first in terms of output per animal, household cash and subsistence income from livestock for large-and small-scale producers, and second in terms of output per unit of pastoral land

Fodder Resources and Grazing Management in a Savanna Environment: an Ecosystem Approach

The desirability for students of social and natural sciences to pool their abilities and resources in investigations concerned with man and his environment has often been noted, but genuine efforts in this direction are conspicuously less frequent. Admittedly, examples could be quoted of studies which synthetise the findings of individual researchers, many of which have been commissioned by those involved in the planning for and implementation of development. But few cases are known to the present authors of researchers who have tried to im-prove on the relevance, consistency, and coherenoe of their basic investigations into different, though related, aspects by seeking right from the start an interdisciplinary approaoh to a jointly delimited theme. Even among students of strongly interdependent disciplines such as geography and ecology, as represented by the present authors, these 'joint ventures' are believed to be rare. Those who set out on this challenging path therefore not only have to face occasional difficulties due to different frames of reference and jargon, but also and more important, the problem of designing a functionally integrated approach without being able to resort to previous endeavours for guidance

Stylosanthes as a forage and fallow crop. Proceedings of a regional workshop on the use of Stylosanthes in West Africa

This report is divided into seven sections. The first section deals with biology of Stylosanthes and its importance in West Africa and Latin America. The second section presents papers on the screening and evaluation of Stylosanthes germplasm. This includes genetic diversity, genetic resources, species screening, multi-locational testing and evaluation of accessions. The third part discusses the dynamics, nutrient requirements, and pests and diseases of Stylosanthes species. Section four looks at Stylosanthes-based pastures for livestock production. This section examines stylo-based pasture development, stylo as a source of supplementary feeding, development of grazing, crop-livestock farming system, and evaluation of stylo-grass mixtures. The fifth section examines the integration of Stylosanthes into cropping systems. Some of the topics covered under this topic are establishment techniques, development of millet-stylo cropping systems and research approach and methodologies. The sixth section is on seed production of Stylosanthes and the last section discusses the impact of Stylosanthes

Maasai herding: An analysis of the livestock production system of Maasai pastoralists in eastern Kajiado District, Kenya

The first chapter gives a brief description of a pastoral production system, as envisaged by the study team and outlines the multi-disciplinary approach of the study, its sampling design and the data collected. Chapters 2 & 3 describe Kenya's biophysical and socio-economic environments, within which the Maasai livestock production system operates. The biophysical environment of the study site is described in detail in Chapter 4. Chapter 5 describes the social organization of the Maasai and how it affects their use of livestock and grazing resources. The division and specialisation of labour by age and sex classes are described in chapter 6. The short term productivity of Maasai cattle, sheep and goats is analysed in Chapter 7. Chapter 8 analyses how the Maasai used their livestock and how this determined the mix of species, sex and age of the livestock they kept. It also analyses the pattern of food and non-food consumption and the resulting patterns of cash income and expenditure. Chapter 9 presents an economic analysis of the short-term livestock production of the Maasai. First the short-term costs and returns of Maasai livestock production are analysed as observed during the study period. Subsequently the operation of the regional livestock market and its links with the pastoral hinterland and the final livestock markets are described and the efficiency analysed. Finally the historical terms of trade of the pastoral Maasai and how they have affected their welfare is discussed

Using the economic surplus model to measure potential returns to international livestock research. The case of trypanosomosis vaccine research

This study illustrates how productivity impacts resulting from livestock research can be measured using a herd simulation model, how the results of this model can be extended spatially using geographic information systems (GIS) to determine the potential increase in livestock production that would result from adoption of a new technology, and how an economic surplus model can be used to value the estimated productivity impacts. The particular problem examined is trypanosomosis in cattle in Africa, and the potential research product is a multi-component vaccine. The results suggest that the potential benefits of trypanosomiasis control, in terms of meat and milk productivity alone are worth over US$ 700 million per year in Africa. The methodology developed in this study can be used to measure the benefits of alleviating constraints to livestock production and the potential returns to research and development approaches addressing those constraints. The results of this study will assist in research priority setting and have highlighted the need for further research aimed at better understanding who the beneficiaries of the vaccine will be, and how it will reach them

Measurement of event-shape observables in Z→ℓ+ℓ− events in pp collisions at √ s=7 TeV with the ATLAS detector at the LHC

Event-shape observables measured using charged particles in inclusive $Z$-boson events are presented, using the electron and muon decay modes of the $Z$ bosons. The measurements are based on an integrated luminosity of $1.1 {\rm fb}^{-1}$ of proton--proton collisions recorded by the ATLAS detector at the LHC at a centre-of-mass energy $\sqrt{s}=7$ TeV. Charged-particle distributions, excluding the lepton--antilepton pair from the $Z$-boson decay, are measured in different ranges of transverse momentum of the $Z$ boson. Distributions include multiplicity, scalar sum of transverse momenta, beam thrust, transverse thrust, spherocity, and $\mathcal{F}$-parameter, which are in particular sensitive to properties of the underlying event at small values of the $Z$-boson transverse momentum. The Sherpa event generator shows larger deviations from the measured observables than Pythia8 and Herwig7. Typically, all three Monte Carlo generators provide predictions that are in better agreement with the data at high $Z$-boson transverse momenta than at low $Z$-boson transverse momenta and for the observables that are less sensitive to the number of charged particles in the event.Comment: 36 pages plus author list + cover page (54 pages total), 14 figures, 4 tables, submitted to EPJC, All figures including auxiliary figures are available at http://atlas.web.cern.ch/Atlas/GROUPS/PHYSICS/PAPERS/STDM-2014-0