Managing fodder trees as a solution to human-livestock food conflicts and their contribution to income generation for smallholder farmers in southern Africa

    Chakeredza, S and Hove, L and Akinnifesi, F K and Franzel, S and Ajayi, O C and Sileshi, G (2007) Managing fodder trees as a solution to human-livestock food conflicts and their contribution to income generation for smallholder farmers in southern Africa. Natural Resources Forum, 31 (4). pp. 286-296. ISSN 0165-0203

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    Abstract

    Livestock production is an integral part of smallholder farming systems in southern Africa. While goats and sheep play some role in the smallholder farmer household economy, cattle are the predominant livestock species supplying draught power, milk, manure and meat. Production of cattle is based on range grazing. However, the nutritive value of the range is generally low depending on vegetation type and season. With the rapid increase in human population in southern Africa and the increasing need to produce staple food on a sustainable basis, smallholder farmers are increasingly encroaching onto lands formerly reserved for livestock grazing. Therefore, livestock subsisting on the range require supplementation. Conventional bought-in supplements are expensive. Fodder trees and shrubs have been integrated within some farming systems of southern Africa as fodder banks with varying degrees of success. Work carried out in Tanzania, Malawi and Zimbabwe is reviewed to provide evidence on how the fodder tree technology has impacted on livestock production with special reference to smallholder dairy production, human food production and smallholder farmers' income. For the wider adoption of the technology, a synopsis of the different scaling up pathways and approaches adopted by research and development agencies is presented

    Item Type: Article
    Divisions: UNSPECIFIED
    CRP: UNSPECIFIED
    Uncontrolled Keywords: Smallholder farmers; Livestock production; Fodder shrubs; Livelihoods
    Subjects: Others
    Depositing User: Ms K Syamalamba
    Date Deposited: 03 Nov 2011 10:19
    Last Modified: 03 Jan 2012 04:56
    URI: http://oar.icrisat.org/id/eprint/3626
    Official URL: http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/loi/narf
    Projects: UNSPECIFIED
    Funders: UNSPECIFIED
    Acknowledgement: UNSPECIFIED
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