Agricultural extension reform in Africa: Insights and lessons from livestock disease control in South-West Ethiopia

Agricultural extension systems across Africa are under great pressure to become more efficient and effective. Whereas proposals abound as to what African governments should do in order to achieve these goals, those addressing how they might do so are rare. The literature still offers little guidance as to specific factors and processes that likely influence development and diffusion of agricultural technologies in given circumstances. This paper addresses this gap by analysing the outcome of a multi-year, farmer-centred intervention to control trypanosomosis a devastating livestock disease transmitted by tsetse flies carried out by the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) in South-West Ethiopia. While not conceived as such at the time, this intervention emerges, in retrospect, as a real-world experiment in decentralised private provision of a traditional public extension activity. The nature of the control technology and several biophysical and socio-economic characteristics of the region selected for control combined to produce a self-reinforcing process key to the success of the initiative. The intervention suggests that it is the demand-side of agricultural extension systems that matters the most, and that in most cases, an 'organised articulation of demand' will be required. The internal logic of that 'articulation' is the exact reverse of that driving privatisation and decentralisation of extension systems. That logic also differs significantly from that guiding 'demand-led, farmer-participatory' approaches to extension reform

The changing face of pastoral systems in grass dominated ecosystems of Eastern Africa

All eastern Africa is in the tropics, but its grasslands cover a very wide range of altitudes. Extensive grasslands are mostly in arid and semi -arid zones. The area is subject to droughts and a high degree of pastoral risk. Potential vegetation is largely desert and semi-desert, bush and woodland, with only a small area of pure grassland, but the grass -dominated herbaceous layer of the other formations is very important for wildlife and livestock; 75 percent of eastern Africa is dominated by grasslands, often with a varying amount of woody vegetation. The grasslands have been grazed by livestock and game for millennia. Eastern Africa is a centre of genetic diversity for grasses. Six to eleven main grassland zones have been described. Grasslands are either under government control, are open access or are common property resources. Access to resources are under national laws but frequently traditional land use rights are granted by local communities. National land tenure systems are unrelated to traditional ones. Governments supported cropping and reduction of communal grazing land; contraction of pastoral systems reduces the scale of resource use by pastoral peoples. The population is very varied - pastoral groups tend to be of different ethnicities from agricultural or agropastoral groups. Most pastoral systems are in the semi-arid areas, with small areas in hyper-arid and subhumid zones. Traditionally, livestock and their products were for subsistence and wealth, but now many are marketed. Grasslands are increasingly being integrated into farming as pastoral systems evolve. Sown forages are widely used in agricultural areas. Cattle, like people, are mostly in the non-pastoral areas (70 percent), except in countries with little high-potential land. Cattle, camels, sheep, goats and donkeys are the main livestock kept by the pastoralists for subsistence; most herds are mixed. Indigenous breeds are the majority, although exotic cattle are kept for dairying in high altitude zones. Wildlife are widespread in the grazing lands and are important for tourism. Agricultural development along watercourses limits access by wildlife and pastoral stock

Effects of human-livestock-wildlife interactions on habitat in an eastern Kenya rangeland

Human–livestock–wildlife interactions have increased in Kenyan rangelands in recent years, but few attempts have been made to evaluate their impact on the rangeland habitat. This study identified drivers of increased human–livestock–wildlife interactions in the Meru Conservation Area between 1980 and 2000 and their effects on the vegetation community structure. The drivers were habitat fragmentation, decline in pastoral grazing range, loss of wildlife dispersal areas and increase in livestock population density. Agricultural encroachment increased by over 76% in the western zone adjoining Nyambene ranges and the southern Tharaka area, substantially reducing the pastoral grazing range and wildlife dispersal areas. Livestock population increased by 41%, subjecting areas left for pastoral grazing in the northern dispersal area to prolonged heavy grazing that gave woody plant species a competitive edge over herbaceous life-forms. Consequently, open wooded grassland, which was the dominant vegetation community in 1980, decreased by c. 40% as bushland vegetation increased by 42%. A substantial proportion of agro pastoralists were encountered around Kinna and Rapsu, areas that were predominantly occupied by pastoralists three decades ago, indicating a possible shift in land use in order to spread risks associated with habitat alterations

Potential for biofuel feedstock in Kenya

Many developing countries, Kenya included, want to diversify their domestic energy supply hence reduce dependence on highly volatile fossil fuel prices, enhance access to energy in rural areas, promote rural development and to reduce carbon emissions.This study was done to assess the potential for supply of biofuel feedstock for bioethanol and biodiesel production for domestic consumption and export. To achieve this, key feedstocks were identified and their environmental suitability, production and yields analyzed. Gross margin as a tool was used to make an economic analysis of the production of the feedstocks compared to that of the most prominent food and cash crops. A review of the national biofuel strategies, policies and regulations currently adopted in Kenya was also done. The study established that sweet sorghum and castor are the most environmentally suitable bioethanol and biodiesel feedstock respectively. In terms of gross margins, sweet sorghum has the highest gross margin at KSh 67,584 followed by sugarcane at KSh 37,746 and cassava at KSh 20,240 per hectare for bioethanol feedstocks. For biodiesel feedstocks, sunflower has the highest gross margin at KSh 2,921 per hectare. It is expected that this study will play a significant role in guiding the policy makers in making important decisions to drive the biofuels sector forward

Large herbivore responses to water and settlements in savannas

Sustaining wildlife and pastoral communities in savannas worldwide depends on understanding how landscapes provide for their needs. The composite effects of multiple forces shape herbivore distribution in savannas. We propose a model describing the distribution of animal density along two resource utilization gradients. The model estimates where animals are most abundant in relation to water and pastoral settlements and how strongly they respond to these gradients, as indicated by the location of peak densities in landscape space and degree of attraction of animals to these locations. We use the model to show that distances to water and settlements interactively influence the distribution of wild herbivore and livestock densities in a semiarid protected and pastoral African savanna. The herbivores were distributed along distance from water and settlement gradients according to four distinct patterns, suggesting the preponderance of constrained foraging. The impact of distance to water and settlement on herbivore distribution was modified by land use type and temporal variation in rainfall, and also varied among different species of wildlife and between wildlife and livestock. Wild herbivores peaked in density farther from settlements than from water and were much more strongly attracted to their points of maximum density in the pastoral than in the protected land. The point of maximum density was farther removed from settlements in the protected than in the pastoral landscape where the wild herbivores were compressed into smaller suitable habitats. The interaction between distances from settlement and water produced discernible spatial segregation among species in terms of the locations of their points of maximum density, presumably to minimize interspecific competition for forage and water. Settlements exerted relatively stronger influence on livestock distribution than water, resulting in densities that declined exponentially away from settlements at all distances from water