Factors Influencing Current and Future Prospects for Intensive Dairy Production in Rwanda

Intensive mixed crop-dairy systems dominate smallholder agriculture in Rwanda. However, factors that influence the intensification and crop-dairy integration in Rwanda have not been examined. The objective of this study was to determine factors that are influencing the current and future prospects for intensification and mixed crop-dairy production systems in Rwanda

Agronomic and Nutritional Characteristics of Selected \u3cem\u3eBrachiaria\u3c/em\u3e Hybrids and Varieties Harvested at Three Stages of Growth

Shortage of quality feed is a persistent livestock productivity constraint and it is accentuated by climate variability and increased unpredictability of precipitation in many areas in Sub-Saharan Africa. Improved Brachiaria genotypes are some of the interventions that can improve feed security and contribute to the global climate change mitigation efforts

Landslides Hazard Mapping in Rwanda Using Bivariate Statistical Index Method

Landslides hazard mapping (LHM) is essential in delineating hazard prone areas and optimizing low cost mitigation measures. This study applied the Geographic Information System and statistical index method in LHM in Rwanda. Field surveys identified 336 points that were employed to construct a landslides inventory map. Ten landslides predicting factors were analyzed: normalized difference vegetation index, elevation, slope, aspects, lithology, soil texture, distance to rivers, distance to roads, rainfall, and land use. The factor variables were converted into categorized variables according to the percentile divisions of seed cells. Then, values of each factor’s class weight were calculated and summed to create landslides hazard map. The estimated hazard map was split into five hazard classes (very low, low, moderate, high, and very high). The results indicated that the northern, western, and southern provinces are largely exposed to landslides hazard. The major landslides hazard influencing factors are elevation, slope, rainfall, and poor land management. Overall, this LHM would help policy makers to recognize each area’s hazard extent, key triggering factors, and the required hazard mitigation measures. These measures include planting trees to enhance vegetation cover and reduce the runoff, and construction of buildings on low steep slope areas to reduce people’s hazard exposure; while agroforestry and bench terraces would reduce sediments that take out the exposed soil (erosion) and pollute water quality

Seasonal variation of livestock feed resources in semi-arid and humid environments of Rwanda

In most of sub-Saharan African countries, including Rwanda, the predominant agricultural production is from a mixed-crop-livestock farming system, because of small size land holding. The objective of this study was to assess the seasonal availability of livestock feed resources in the semi-arid and humid environments of Rwanda. Structured questionnaire was designed and administered to 102 households from each environment (totalling 204) practising mixed-crop-livestock farming system. Humid environment had more other activities than farming compared with the semi-arid. The semi-arid area had more households with dairy cows than humid environment. Household heads above 40 years and uneducated were more likely to establish fodder species for livestock. Farmers in humid environments were more likely to apply fertiliser on forages as one of the management practices than in the semi-arid areas. Household heads with above 20 years of experience in livestock rearing and uneducated household heads were also more likely to apply fertiliser on forages. Farmers in the semi-arid environments were two times more likely to establish forages in farmland than in humid environments. Various feed resources were identified in both environments. However, Napier grass was the most frequent feed resource across all season in both areas. Its availability differed (p < 0.01) between the two environments during the rainy season and during the dry season (p < 0.05) where the humid environments had the highest quantity compared with the semi-arid environments. In addition, various crop residues were also used in both areas during the rainy and dry seasons. This suggests that feed availability is based on seasonal crop harvesting, which can lead to feed shortage in a time of crop failure. Also, high use of crop residues can compromise livestock productivity, owing to low quality, suggesting the necessity to characterise the available feed resources in smallholder farms of the semi-arid and humid environments for better choice of feed

Homecoming of Brachiaria: Improved hybrids prove useful for African animal agriculture

Species of the genus Brachiaria originate primarily from Africa, where they are constituents of natural grasslands. Due to their adaptation to acidic, low-fertility soils, millions of hectares of Brachiaria species have been sown as improved pastures in South and Central America, especially B. brizantha cv. Marandu and B. decumbens cv. Basilisk. Due to B. decumbens' susceptibility to spittlebug insect pests in the Americas, CIAT in Colombia and EMBRAPA in Brazil initiated breeding programmes in the 1980s. First cultivars released from CIAT's breeding programme – cvs. Mulato and Mulato-II – have also been investigated in African countries. They have been examined for integration in conservation agriculture systems (Madagascar), for drought and acidic soil tolerance (Rwanda) and for intercropping forages in dairy systems (Uganda, Madagascar), among others. Seed sales to African countries suggest that an area of at least 1,000 ha has been sown so far. The largest adoption of cv. Mulato-II is currently happening in eastern Africa, where it is used by over 20,000 farmers as a trap plant in the push-pull system for control of maize stem borers and parasitic Striga weed. Cv. Mulato-II's particular advantage is its relatively high crude protein content due to greater leafiness and thinner stems than those of traditional Napier grass, resulting in higher nutritive quality. Yet new pest challenges have emerged, requiring further research attention. Diverse hybrids are in the pipeline for release, among them those that are suitable for cut-and-carry systems which are prevalent in eastern Africa. This paper reviews research, development and incipient adoption of new Brachiaria hybrids in African countries. (Résumé d'auteur

Climate-Smart \u3cem\u3eBrachiaria\u3c/em\u3e Grasses for Improving Livestock Production in East Africa

Climate change is a global phenomenon with negative impacts severely felt by poor people in developing countries (Morton 2007). Across many parts of Africa, rural poor communities rely greatly for their survival on agriculture and livestock that are amongst the most climate-sensitive economic sectors. Climate-smart agriculture helps farmers to increase food production, become more resilient to climate change and reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The main anthro-pogenic GHGs are carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O); they are critically important for regulating the Earth’s surface temperature. Inadequate quantity and quality of feed is a major constraint to livestock production, particularly during the dry seasons across Africa. The overall objective of this inter-institutional program is to increase feed availability in action areas of the target countries in East Africa (e.g. Kenya, Rwanda) by use of climate-smart Brachiaria forage grasses (Rao et al. 2011) for increased animal productivity and for generation of extra income to smallholder famers. An innovative programmatic approach will be used to reintroduce high quality, persistent and productive Brachiaria genotypes that were selected and improved in Latin America (Miles et al. 2004) back to Africa. These forage grasses will contribute to alleviate feed shortages, increase income to resource poor farmers, improve soil fertility, adapt to and mitigate climate change, increase milk and beef production, and as a result improve livelihoods and protect the environment

Climate-Smart \u3cem\u3eBrachiaria\u3c/em\u3e for Improving Livestock Production in East Africa: Emerging Opportunities

Brachiaria grass is an important tropical forage of African origin with desirable attributes of agricultural and environmental significance. Brachiaria has been extensively cultivated as a pasture across the tropics except in its endemic provenance of Africa. In 2013, a collaborative research program was initiated in Kenya and Rwanda with the aim of improving the availability of quality livestock feeds adapted to drought and low fertility soils using Brachiaria. The outcomes sought were increased livestock productivity leading to improved farmer income and the development of seed production opportunities. The program has identified five preferred cultivars, and four of them are currently being evaluated on-farm by over 2000 small-holder farmers in Kenya and Rwanda for livestock productivity. Preliminary milk production data has shown a 15 to 40% increase in milk production in Kenya and an average increase of 36% in Rwanda. The substitution of Napier grass by Brachiaria in the feed has increased average daily body weight gain of cattle by 205g during a 12 week period. Kenyan farmers reported increased on-farm forage availability by three months after Brachiaria introduction. The program has also worked to determine the role of endophytes and plant associated microbes for the improvement of biomass production and adaptation of Brachiaria to biotic and abiotic stresses. A diverse group of fungi and bacteria were isolated, identified and characterized, and the role of these microbes on plant growth and plant pathogen suppression is being investigated. This paper discusses the rationale for selecting Brachiaria as potential forage for eastern Africa and highlights current achievements, and identifies areas for future research