Adaptation of Periurban Cattle Production Systems to Environmental Changes: Feeding Strategies of Herdsmen in Southern Benin

Koura, Bossima Ivan; Dossa, Luc Hippolyte; Kassa, Barthélémy; Houinato, Marcel

doi:10.1080/21683565.2014.953662

Cited by 22 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 13 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Studies have revealed that many farmers are aware of the adverse effects of climate variability [86,[88][89][90]. Farmers' observations have been established to be consistent with scientific assertions from empirical evidence [33].…”

Section: The Need For Csa In Sub-saharan African Agriculturementioning

confidence: 86%

The Dynamics of Climate Change Adaptation in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Review of Climate-Smart Agriculture among Small-Scale Farmers

Abegunde

Sibanda

Obi

2019

Climate

109

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Climate-smart agriculture (CSA) as a credible alternative to tackle food insecurity under the changing climate is gaining wide acceptance. However, many developing countries have realized that concepts that have been recommended as solutions to existing problems are not suitable in their contexts. This paper synthesizes a subset of literature on CSA in the context of small-scale agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa as it relates to the need for CSA, factors influencing CSA adoption, and the challenges involved in understanding and scaling up CSA. Findings from the literature reveal that age, farm size, the nature of farming, and access to extension services influence CSA adoption. Many investments in climate adaptation projects have found little success because of the sole focus on the technology-oriented approach whereby innovations are transferred to farmers whose understanding of the local farming circumstances are limited. Climate-smart agriculture faces the additional challenge of a questionable conceptual understanding among policymakers as well as financing bottlenecks. This paper argues that the prospects of CSA in small-scale agriculture rest on a thorough socio-economic analysis that recognizes the heterogeneity of the small farmer environment and the identification and harnessing of the capacities of farming households for its adoption and implementation.

show abstract

Section: The Need For Csa In Sub-saharan African Agriculturementioning

confidence: 86%

The Dynamics of Climate Change Adaptation in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Review of Climate-Smart Agriculture among Small-Scale Farmers

Abegunde

Sibanda

Obi

2019

Climate

109

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Small ruminants are essentially bred by smallholders and this activity generates an important household income during lean periods ( Babatoundé et al, 2010 ). In all Sub-Saharan African area, feed shortages remained the main constraint to ruminant breeding ( Adjolohoun et al, 2008 ; Koura et al, 2015 ). This is the result of agricultural pressure, urbanization and climate variability on the extensive production system, which now results in poor grazing areas ( Koura et al, 2015 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In all Sub-Saharan African area, feed shortages remained the main constraint to ruminant breeding ( Adjolohoun et al, 2008 ; Koura et al, 2015 ). This is the result of agricultural pressure, urbanization and climate variability on the extensive production system, which now results in poor grazing areas ( Koura et al, 2015 ). According to this author, in some areas of Southern-Benin, the most palatable species such as Panicum maximum and Pennisetum spp.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nutritional Characteristics of Forage Grown in South of Benin

Musco

Koura

Tudisco

et al. 2015

Asian Australas. J. Anim. Sci

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In order to provide recommendations on the most useful forage species to smallholder farmers, eleven grass and eleven legume forages grown in Abomey-Calavi in Republic of Benin were investigated for nutritive value (i.e. chemical composition and energy content) and fermentation characteristics (i.e. gas and volatile fatty acid production, organic matter degradability). The in vitro gas production technique was used, incubating the forages for 120 h under anaerobic condition with buffalo rumen fluid. Compared to legume, tropical grass forages showed lower energy (8.07 vs 10.57 MJ/kg dry matter [DM]) and crude protein level (16.10% vs 19.91% DM) and higher cell wall content (neutral detergent fiber: 63.8% vs 40.45% DM), respectively. In grass forages, the chemical composition showed a quite high crude protein content; the in vitro degradability was slightly lower than the range of tropical pasture. The woody legumes were richer in protein and energy and lower in structural carbohydrates than herbaceous plants, however, their in vitro results are influenced by the presence of complex compounds (i.e. tannins). Significant correlations were found between chemical composition and in vitro fermentation characteristics. The in vitro gas production method appears to be a suitable technique for the evaluation of the nutritive value of forages in developing countries.

show abstract

“…Declining soil fertility (Dercon, 2002;Vall et al, 2012), feed scarcity (Coulibaly, 2008;Vall et al, 2012;Koura et al, 2015) and reduction of space (Vall et al, 2006(Vall et al, , 2012Koura et al, 2015) threat the two productions (Dercon, 2002;Coulibaly, 2008;Koura et al, 2015) which can no more satisfy food availability. Integration of crop farming and livestock rearing is well known in West-Africa to improve the resilience of small farmers to ongoing risks Vall et al, 2012).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Determinants of crop-livestock integration by small farmers in Benin

Koura¹,

Dedehouanou²,

Dossa³

et al. 2016

Int. J. Bio. Chem. Sci

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Despite the numerous work conducted on integrated crop-livestock systems, very little is known about factors determining farmers' trend to integrate. Our study aimed at a socioeconomic characterization of endogenous crop-livestock integration in Benin and identification of determinants of farmers' decision to use these practices. Two hundred and forty farmers were surveyed in three agro-ecological regions randomly selected. A semi-structured questionnaire was used to collect information on farmer's characteristics, production factors and agriculture and breeding by-products valorization practices. On the basis of main links between both productions, three integration levels (no integration, NI: 36%; partial integration, PI: 55%; total integration, TI: 9%) were identified and characterized according to socioeconomic characteristics of farmers. Then the multinomial logistic regression technique was used to predict the integration level of a given farmer in function of its socioeconomic characteristics. The three integration levels differ significantly (p<0.001) according to variables such as membership in farmers' association, educational level, weight of agricultural experience, farming equipment and size of herds. The decision by a farmer to choose the total integration type significantly depends (p <0.001) on the size of his cattle herd, his membership in farmers' association, the weight of his agricultural experience and his equipment value. Thus, integration is a practice used by small farmers with good experience in agriculture. Strategies for improving integration of cropping and breeding are to motivated farmers for cattle keeping and membership in an association.

show abstract

Adaptation of Periurban Cattle Production Systems to Environmental Changes: Feeding Strategies of Herdsmen in Southern Benin

Cited by 22 publications

References 13 publications

The Dynamics of Climate Change Adaptation in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Review of Climate-Smart Agriculture among Small-Scale Farmers

The Dynamics of Climate Change Adaptation in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Review of Climate-Smart Agriculture among Small-Scale Farmers

Nutritional Characteristics of Forage Grown in South of Benin

Determinants of crop-livestock integration by small farmers in Benin

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About