Livestock Production and Sustainable Agricultural Development in Semi-Arid West Africa

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dc.contributor.authorWilliams, Timothy O.en
dc.contributor.authorHiernaux, Pierre H.Y.en
dc.contributor.authorFernández-Rivera, S.en
dc.contributor.authorTurner, M.en
dc.contributor.departmentSustainable Agriculture and Natural Resource Management (SANREM) Knowledgebaseen
dc.coverage.spatialWest Africaen
dc.date.accessioned2016-04-19T18:55:04Zen
dc.date.available2016-04-19T18:55:04Zen
dc.date.issued1997en
dc.descriptionMetadata only recorden
dc.description.abstract"Mixed farming systems, combining crop and livestock activities, hold considerable promise for improved agricultural productivity and environmental conservation in semi-arid West Africa. Increasing population pressure and climatic changes have combined to render long-fallow periods less feasible and effective. Transhumant pastoralism, a productive and historically important pattern of livestock production in the Sahel, is under severe stress due to periodic droughts and extension of cropped lands into range-lands. This paper examines alternative options through which the integration of livestock and crop production could contribute to an intensification of agricultural production and enhance the maintenance of soil fertility in semi-arid West Africa. It reviews several aspects of livestock production focusing on social, economic and technical constraints to pastoral production and to efficient integration of crop and livestock activities. The impact of livestock on the agro-ecosystem is discussed in respect of trampling, spatial redistribution of nutrients and the biological effects of grazing and browsing on the vegetation. Technologies and economic incentives that could improve the contribution of livestock to agricultural production in semi-arid West Africa are identified. The paper demonstrates the necessity of multidisciplinary approach and of active farmers involvement in identifying, designing, and developing appropriate technologies for mixed farming systems in Africa." (Williams or editors)en
dc.format.mimetypetext/plainen
dc.identifier813en
dc.identifier.isbn978-2453-38-2en
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10919/65733en
dc.language.isofr_FRen
dc.relation.ispartofBezuneh, T., A. M. Emechebe, J. Sedgo, M. Ouedraogo, eds. 1997. Technology Options for Sustainable Agriculture in Sub-Saharan Africa: Scientific papers presented at the OAU/STRC - SAFGRAD Regional Workshop on Technology Options and Transfer Systems for Sustainable Agricultural Production in Sub-Saharan Africa, Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire, 26-29 April 1995. Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso: The Coordination Office: OAU/CSTR-SAFGRADen
dc.subjectFarming systemsen
dc.subjectLivestocken
dc.subjectSemi-ariden
dc.subjectWest Africaen
dc.subjectPastoralismen
dc.subjectCrop productionen
dc.subjectFarm/Enterprise Scale Field Scaleen
dc.titleLivestock Production and Sustainable Agricultural Development in Semi-Arid West Africaen
dc.typeAbstracten
dc.type.dcmitypeTexten

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