Could 150 million thirsty livestock be efficient water harvesters? Nile Basin studies show how

COLLECTIVE ACTION NEWS is a periodical e-publication of the CGIAR’s Regional Collective Action in Eastern and Southern Afric

Factors Associated with Growth of Wild Rice in Northern Saskatchewan

Six growth measurements of wild rice (Zizania aquatica L.) were made in 17 stands near La Ronge, northern Saskatchewan. Sediment depth, water depth, and 19 substrate chemical factors were measured. Panicle development was primarily related to available P, pH, and concentrations of Na, Ca, Zn, soluble K, Cu, Mn, SO4, Cl, and Fe in the sediment. It was also related to water and substrate depths. Shoot length was related to water and mud depths. Shoot weight was related to substrate mud depth, and to the concentration of soil Ca and Mn. Changes in the chemical composition of sediment may have been the cause for decreased production of wild rice. Substrate properties may be useful for identifying potential seeding sites for wild rice.Key words: wild rice, Zizania, northern SaskatchewanMots clés: zizanie, Zizania, nord de la Saskatchewa

Managing water through livestock in the Nile basin

Livestock use and degrade much water in the Nile River Basin. New research suggests that integrated development and management of water and livestock resources will conserve water and increase the profitability and environmental sustainability of investments by governments, development agencies, and farmers. Practical opportunities exist to enhance food security, reduce poverty, and foster benefit sharing. Institutions responsible for water resources may benefit from partnering with the livestock sector when developing water resources

Improving the water productivity of livestock: an opportunity for poverty reduction

In Ethiopia, intensification of agricultural production is the primary focus of the government’s poverty reduction strategy. Livestock constitute an invaluable resource providing essential goods and services to small-scale poor farmers and their families and communities. Production of high valued livestock products provides a route out of poverty especially where growing urban demand fuels the markets. Water security is a requisite input for livestock production and its resultant contribution to poverty reduction. Typically, one tropical livestock unit (TLU = 250 kg live weight) requires less than 50 litres/day derived from drinking water and moisture in animal feeds. Assuming annual rainfall of 500 to 1000 mm and a stocking rate of one TLU/ha, the drinking water required by livestock is less than 0.2% of the intercepted precipitation. While sufficient high quality water is essential to sustaining livestock production, direct water intake is only of minor significance in terms of livestock water budgets in farming systems and watersheds where the water required for feed production can be up to 5000 litres/TLU per day or 100 times the amount directly consumed. Water productivity of livestock may be high or low depending on the context within which livestock production is evaluated. Livestock produced solely with irrigated forage and grain crops may be very inefficient in terms of water consumed for food produced. However, ‘cut-and-carry’ and grazing production relying on consumption of crop residues and tree fodder can be very efficient since the water used for plant production would have been used with or without livestock feeding on it. The stover or feed is simply a by-product of growing crops and does not require additional water for its production. Livestock also provide rural farmers with additional value in terms of consumable and marketable outputs without incurring significant demand for water. Understanding and managing water productivity of livestock presents opportunities to contribute to poverty reduction. Water productivity varies according to the geographic scale being considered and depends largely on the degree to which water is depleted or available to other users or ecosystem services. Livestock have a profound impact on downstream water resources. In urban and peri-urban areas, livestock production may be an ideal agricultural practice in terms of water productivity if downstream contamination can be avoided. Increasing demand for livestock products implies increased future demand for water that can be expected to rival the water requirements for production of all other food products consumed by the urban population. In many cases, livestock management practices jeopardise water quality, human health and aggravate water mediated land degradation. Research is needed to develop practical strategies to enable poor people in rural, peri-urban and urban areas to better manage livestock so that they can realise poverty reducing benefits and minimise harmful effects on themselves and others. An utmost need exists for community based natural resources management, a critical issue of interest to water and livestock managers. Given the paucity of literature on livestock–water interactions, key areas for future research are highlighted

Effects of livestock feed sourcing and feeding strategies on livestock water productivity in mixed crop–livestock systems of the Blue Nile basin highlands of Ethiopia

Inefficient management and use of water is unanimously the most single constraint of agricultural production of Ethiopia. The study was conducted to assess the effect of livestock feed sourcing and feeding strategies on livestock water productivity (LWP) in mixed crop–livestock production systems of the Blue Nile Basin in Ethiopian Highlands. Three districts representing diverse agricultural farming systems were considered. Each district further stratified to different farming systems. Multi-stage stratified random sampling technique was employed to select farm households. Household survey, group discussions and plant biomass sampling were done to generate data on beneficial outputs, water depleted and feed sourcing and feeding strategies. LWP was estimated as a ratio of livestock’s beneficial outputs and services to depleted water. The results indicated that the major feed sources were mainly from crop residues (58.5 to 78.2%), natural pasture (10.9 to 33.4%) and aftermath grazing (9.9 to 24.3%) in study farming systems. The feed source from energy dense (improved forages) was low. The feeding strategies were relatively similar among the study farming systems. No apparent difference (P>0.05) was observed in LWP within all districts among the farming systems and the value falls between USD 0.15–0.19 m-3. However, LWP difference was observed within clustered wealth status within all farming systems and lower value of LWP general observed for the poor farm households. Such differences of LWP values can be accounted for by the strategies farm households are following in feed sourcing and how water productive those feed sources are. Hence, in the context of this work, options to improve LWP mainly involve sourcing water productive and higher quality feed

Integrated termite management for improved rainwater management: A synthesis of selected African experiences

In eastern Africa, termites are perceived by farmers, livestock keepers, and many development agencies as serious agricultural pests that destroy pasture, crops and wooden infrastructure. Commonly use control measures have proven to be ineffective. When the CGIAR Challenge Program on Water and Food (CPWF) undertook research aimed at increasing agricultural water productivity in eastern Africa, termites destroyed early experiments designed to rehabilitate degraded land and increase water productivity. Building on indigenous knowledge from termite affected regions of Ethiopia, the CPWF and Uganda partners initiated research on integrated termite management. Results were promising. This literature review was commissioned to capture the state-of-knowledge about termite taxonomy, and diversity, farmers’ ethno-ecological knowledge of subterranean termites and termite management practices and control measures used in African crop and rangeland production systems. The paper offers some general lessons and guidelines for future agricultural research and development programs where termite damage is problematic. In brief, we conclude that ITM offers greater prospects for enabling termites to play important positive roles in agro-ecosystem functioning while reducing the damage they inflict on crop and livestock production