Unlocking livestock development potential through science, influence and capacity
development ILRI, APM, Addis Ababa,15–17 May 2013
Developing capacity Influencing decisions
An ecosystem approach for the rehabilitation of
degraded crop and rangelands in Eastern Africa
This document is licensed for use under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported Licence May 2013
Strategic lessons on:
1. Invest for the long term: Previous ILRI
research generated key capacity for this
new project.
2. Build university capacity: New institutions
struggle to develop their research agenda.
How can ILRI help?
3. Enhance innovation capacity: Facilitating
linkages between different actors through
interaction, communication and
collaboration is crucial.
1. Communicate with researchers:
Translate ITM concepts in a manner
receptive to relevant disciplines.
2. Engage key decision-makers:
Convey research implications within
the context and language of
development oriented stakeholders.
3. Recruit champions: Communicate,
convince, network, and provide
relevant service to decision-makers.
Kees Swaans, Don Peden, Dennis Mpairwe, Negash Geleta, Hailemichael Taye, Emmanuel Zziwa, Swidiq Mugerwa, Hirpha Legesse
Delivering science
This Research into Use project aims to sustainably
increase livestock and crop production and enhance
livelihoods in rainfed agricultural systems of Eastern
Africa through integrated termite management . It
builds on ILRI-led research on livestock water
productivity.
Introduction
• Degradation of vast areas of Africa’s rangelands and croplands
relegates millions of impoverished people to poverty, food
insecurity, hunger, and disease.
• Rehabilitating degraded lands generates opportunities to
improve livelihoods, regenerate agroecosystem services, and
sequester carbon.
• One of numerous approaches that can help restore degraded
agricultural land is integrated termite management (ITM).
Focus
• Recognizing that termite damage is symptomatic of non-
productive ecosystems and associated with inappropriate land
and water management, ITM focuses on understanding the
ecosystem dynamics of termite affected land.
• Technical solutions alone are not sufficient; it requires
governance, inputs and multi-stakeholder participation.
1. Change thinking: Termite infestation is a
symptom rather than cause of land
degradation.
2. Increase productivity: Increased
infiltration, transpiration and feed
production reduces evaporation, making
more water available for productive uses.
3. Provide input: ITM requires a flexible and
holistic approach of research to be able
to respond to change.
Project staff consulting with Nakasongola farmers about their ITM-based rehabilitation of degraded pastures. From left to right: (L) Bare land scheduled for
application of dung in 2013; (C) Rehabilitated pasture at end of dry season that now supports controlled grazing; and (R) Experimental research pasture
end of one rainy season following dunging of bare soil.
Results
• Termite damage to rangelands is severe during dry season
when organic matter in the soil is scarce due to
decomposed plants. Night corralling and manuring prior to
reseeding attracts termites and reduces dry season forage
loss.
• Maize sown during the rainy season matures early in the
dry season when termite damage to crops peaks. Mulching
with stover attracts termites and reduces crop damage.
• Farms can sustain crop and livestock production if annual
production of plant litter and application of manure and
stover satisfies termites’ dietary needs.
• Rehabilitating degraded pasture land involves shifting
unproductive evaporation to transpiration, the key
pathway required for productive use of water resources.
• Farmers appear willing to invest in ITM based on evidence
from on-farm trial. Future ITM adoption requires other
parallel inputs and interventions such as use of termite
resistant crops and exclosures.
• Other issues such as labour, cost–benefits and tradeoffs at
the farm and community level need to be taken into
account.
Partners
ILRI, IWMI, CPWF, Makerere University, Ugandan National
Agriculture Research Organization, Wollega University