Development of livestock production in the tropics: farm and farmers’ perspectives

Abstract

Because of an increasing demand for animal-source foods, an increasing desire to reduce poverty and an increasing need to reduce the environmental impact of livestock production, tropical farming systems with livestock must increase their productivity. An important share of the global human and livestock populations are found within smallholder mixed-crop-livestock systems, which should, therefore, contribute significantly towards this increase in livestock production. The present paper argues that increased livestock production in smallholder mixed-crop-livestock systems faces many constraints at the level of the farm and the value chain. The present paper aims to describe and explain the impact of increased production from the farm and farmers' perspective, in order to understand the constraints for increased livestock production. A framework is presented that links farming systems to livestock value chains. It is concluded that farming systems that pass from subsistence to commercial livestock production will: (1) shift from rural to urban markets; (2) become part of a different value chain (with lower prices, higher demands for product quality and increased competition from peri-urban producers and imports); and (3) have to face changes in within-farm mechanisms and crop-livestock relationships. A model study showed that feed limitation, which is common in tropical farming systems with livestock, implies that maximum herd output is achieved with small herd sizes, leaving low-quality feeds unutilised. Maximal herd output is not achieved at maximal individual animal output. Having more animals than required for optimal production -which is often the case as a larger herd size supports non-production functions of livestock, such as manure production, draught, traction and capital storage -goes at the expense of animal-source food output. Improving low-quality feeds by treatment allows keeping more animals while maintaining the same level of production. Ruminant methane emission per kg of milk produced is mainly determined by the level of milk production per cow. Part of the methane emissions, however, should be attributed to the non-production functions of ruminants. It was concluded that understanding the farm and farmers' perceptions of increased production helps with the understanding of productivity increase constraints and adds information to that reported in the literature at the level of technology, markets and institutions.

Climate change adaptation and mitigation in smallholder crop–livestock systems in sub-Saharan Africa: a call for integrated impact assessments

“…Gerber et al (2013) estimated emission rates for African beef and dairy systems of 70 and 9 kg CO 2 equivalent per kg of carcass weight and fat-and protein-corrected milk (FPCM), respectively, compared to the global average of 46 and 2.8 kg CO 2 equivalent per kg of carcass weight and FPCM. In contrast, apart from regions with high stocking density, like East Africa, the emissions per unit of land are relatively small Seebauer 2014) and still smaller per unit of supported livelihood (Oosting et al 2014).…”

“…From the animal perspective, options that alleviate current feed gaps in the vulnerable dry season present a key strategy. Livestock diets can be improved by introducing dual-purpose crops of which the haulms or straw have relatively good feeding value, such as millet, sorghum and grain legumes (Oosting et al 2014). Chemical or biological treatment and mechanical chopping of cereal crop residues also improve the digestibility and palatability.…”

“…Similarly, improving animal husbandry, through, for example, veterinary care, improved breeding, and stall feeding can lead to a lower ''herd overhead'' and hence less emissions per unit of product . The biggest gain in mitigation from smallholder systems could, however, be obtained from reducing the number of animals utilizing a given feed base (Oosting et al 2014), which is currently difficult due to the multifunctionality of livestock (Fig. 1).…”

“…Nevertheless, improving the availability of inputs, like mineral fertilizer, or mechanized cultivation and weeding tools to replace animal draught power, would decrease the dependence on animals. This could promote keeping fewer but better fed animals (Oosting et al 2014), enabling higher animal and herd productivity and lower greenhouse gas emission rates. As mentioned above, rangeland and grazing management can contribute to healthy ecosystem functioning, and with respect to mitigation, lead to carbon sequestration .…”

Editorial: Agroecology for producing goods and services in sustainable animal farming systems

“…However, the diversity of production enhances farm flexibility, with organic farms being the ones that exploit the diversity of herd feed resources (grasslands, cereals, legume crops) more efficiently. Oosting et al (2014) aim to analyze the constraints to production increases from the farm and the farmers' perspective in smallholder mixed crop-livestock systems in the tropics. They show that maximum herd output is not achieved at the highest production per individual animal.…”