Role of herbivores in sustainable agriculture in
sub-Saharan Africa
Augustine Ayantunde, Alan Duncan, Mark van Wijk and Peter Thorne
International Livestock Research Institute
10th International Symposium on the Nutrition of the Herbivores, , Clermont-Ferrand,
France, 2-6 September 2018

Outline
1. Features of key livestock production systems in sub-Saharan Africa
2. Multiple roles of herbivorous livestock in smallholder farming
systems in SSA
3. Opportunities and constraints for livestock-mediated intensification
of the farming systems
4. Environmental consequences of livestock in sustainable agriculture
5. Trade-offs associated with livestock’s roles in sustainable agriculture
6. Key concluding messages

Features of livestock production systems in
SSA
• Multiple production objectives
• Dominated by smallholder farmers
• Mostly extensive with low use of external inputs
• High mobility of the ruminant livestock
• High vulnerability to climatic risks
• Livestock as the main driver of intensification of
the systems
• Varied degree of integration of crop and
livestock production systems
• Feed availability largely determines ruminant
livestock production

Features of livestock production systems in
SSA
System Agro-ecological
zone
Dominant animal
species
Dominant crop
Pastoral Hyper arid, arid Cattle, sheep, goat,
camel
-
Agro-pastoral Arid, semi-arid Cattle, sheep, goat Sorghum, millet
Mixed crop-
livestock
Semi-arid Cattle, sheep, goat,
pig, poultry
Maize, sorghum,
millet
Sub-humid Cattle, sheep, goat,
pig, poultry
Roots/tubers, maize
Humid Sheep, goat, pig,
poultry
Roots /tubers
Highland Cattle, sheep, goat Wheat, potato, teff
Peri-urban Semi-arid, sub-
humid
Cattle, sheep, goat,
poultry
Maize
Adapted from Otte and Chilonda, 2002

Features of livestock production systems in
SSA
Major challenges
• Low productive potential of local breeds
• Seasonal feed scarcity and low quality
• Declining grazing areas and problem of access to water
• Low and declining soil fertility / land degradation
• Climatic change and variability e.g. drought
• Institutional and policy-related constraints
• Diseases – trypanosomosis in sub-humid/humid zones
• Market access
• Low adoption of productivity enhancing technologies

Features of livestock production systems in
SSA
Animal performance follows feed availability in the production
systems
Standing herbage mass and weight development of grazing steers on a
Sahelian rangeland in Niger (Source: Ayantunde et al. 2011)

Multiple roles of livestock in SSA
• The livestock sector contributes 15-80% of agricultural
GDP in sub-Sahara African countries
• Livestock contribute to all 17 SDGs for 2030 and directly
to at least 8 of the goals

Multiple Roles of livestock in SSA
Objective Cows Bulls Sheep Goats
Savings / insurance 9.6 9.9 7.8 7.8
Manure 6.7 6.7 4.5 5.3
Draught 6.3 7.1 0.0 0.0
Domestic milk consumption 6.1 0.0 0.6 0.9
Milk sale 5.9 0.0 0.0 0.0
Ceremonial / Dowry 5.3 4.8 6.7 7.3
Income 2.9 3.3 6.3 7.7
Transport 2.1 2.8 0.0 0.0
Hides / skin 0.6 0.6 1.0 1.1
Domestic meat consumption 0.6 0.6 1.8 2.7
Sale of breeding animals 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
Livestock keeping objectives, mixed crop-livestock system, The Gambia
Scoring 0-10, where 10 = most important objective
Marshall et al (ILRI), unpublished

Multiple Roles of livestock in SSA
Livestock as a “living saving account” and insurance against risk
Vulnerability of different families to food shortage (normalized ranks 0 to 1). Owning
livestock is critical to food security in dryland sub-Saharan Africa. Families who are
poor in livestock are the most vulnerable to food insecurity.

Multiple roles of livestock in SSA
Source: Ritzema et al., 2017

Multiple roles of livestock in SSA
Livestock for traction, for transport and socio-cultural functions

Opportunities and constraints for sustainable
intensification
Reported benefits of Intensification in mixed
crop and livestock systems in Yatenga and
Seno provinces, Burkina Faso (n=400
households)
0 10 20 30 40 50
High cost of input
Small herd size
Lack of access to credit
Harsh climatic condition
Lack of necessary information
Lack of transport
Crop pest
Lack of household labour
Poor market organization
Lack of access to land
% Respondents
0 10 20 30 40 50
Improved productivity
Soil fertility improvement
Improved food security
Increased household income
Improved household dietary…
Rehabilitation of degraded land
Efficient water use
Reduced household labour
Conservation of natural resources
% Respondents
Reported constraints to Intensification in
mixed crop and livestock systems in Yatenga
and Seno provinces, Burkina Faso (n=400
households)
Benefits Constraints
The main pathway to sustainable agriculture in SSA is intensification of the farming
systems

Opportunities and constraints for sustainable
intensification
Livestock Revolution: Markets driving increased income
leading to growth in demand for animal source food,
particularly in developing countries
0
50
100
150
200
250
E.AsiaPacific
China
SouthAsia
SSA
Highincome
0
50
100
150
200
250
E.AsiaPacific
China
SouthAsia
SSA
Highincome
Beef Pork
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
E.AsiaPacific
China
SouthAsia
SSA
Highincome
0
50
100
150
200
250
E.AsiaPacific
China
SouthAsia
SSA
Highincome
MilkPoultry

Opportunities and constraints for sustainable
intensification
Breed x management effects in Senegal
Marshall et al, unpublished
FCFA Indigenous
Zebu – poor
management
Indigenous
Zebu – good
management
Cross-bred –
fair
management
Cross-bred –
good
management
Exotic – very
good
management
Annual mature
female health cost
(FCFA / cow)
210 425 775 800 1,790
Annual mature
female feed cost
(FCFA/cow)
72,500 193,000 198,500 394,500 736,000
Annual animal
housing cost
(FCFA/herd)
2,000 2,000 61,000 112,500 112,500
Annual milk offtake
(litre)
175 568 508 1,315 1,422
Young male sale price
(FCFA/animal)
176,000 176,000 536,000 536,000 933,000
Annual Profit
(FCFA/cow)
60,235 142,041 206,430 445,585 373,716

Opportunities and constraints for sustainable
intensification
Feed and health intervention doubled household sheep and goat flocks in
Mali within a year through significant reduction in mortality and better
animal performance (Ayantunde et al. 2018)

Opportunities and constraints for sustainable
intensification
Land use types Area, % of the
village lands
DM, kg ha-1
yr -1
N, kg ha-1
yr -1
P, kg ha-1
yr -1
Rangelands 13.2 -135 -3.7 -0.23
Fallows 25.0 -112 -2.9 -0.10
Unmanured fields 53.9 -126 -2.4 -0.13
Manured fields 7.9 400 7.7 1.09
Balances between livestock mediated inputs and outputs
Manuring is essential to soil fertility improvement in smallholder farming
systems where use of external input like inorganic fertilizer is low
Only manured field had positive nutrient balance in south-western Niger. However,
only 10% of the crop field in the study site is manured

Opportunities and constraints for sustainable
intensification
Sustainable intensification of the smallholder farming
systems in SSA requires investment
• There is the policy initiative of the African Governments in
2003 to increase agricultural productivity known as the
Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme
(CAADP) which has set a target of six per cent annual
agricultural productivity growth rate.
• To achieve this target it has been recommended that 10 per
cent of the annual budget of each country should be spent
on the agriculture sector but many countries are not
meeting the target
• There has been private sector investment but very limited

Environmental consequences of livestock
in sustainable agriculture in SSA
Sub-Saharan Africa is a hotspot for livestock GHG emissions
largely due to low productive animals and poor management
Herrero, Mario, et al. PNAS 110.52 (2013): 20888-20893.

Environmental consequences of livestock
in sustainable agriculture in SSA
• Manipulating enteric fermentation
• Feed management: feed quality, nutrient use efficiency, feed
processing
• Manure composition and handling
• Effects of diet
• Anaerobic digestion
• Storage and disposal
• Husbandry, genetics and health
GHG Mitigation

Trade-offs associated with livestock’s roles
in sustainable agriculture in SSA
System Feed Yield
(t ha-1)
Grain Yield
(t ha-1)
Net Return
(ETB ha-1)
5.6 3.3 35,032
2.6 3.6 36,756
7.4 3.4 41,869
Traditional
“Improved”
Redesigned

Trade-offs associated with livestock’s roles
in sustainable agriculture in SSA

Trade-offs associated with livestock’s roles
in sustainable agriculture in SSA
Should the crop residues be used to feed household animals when
legume residues can be sold for at least twice the price of grain?
Price variation of ruminant livestock feeds in 2010 in five markets in Bamako, Mali
(Ayantunde et al 2014)

Key concluding messages
1. The role of herbivorous livestock in supporting the
sustainability of the farming systems in SSA is complex
and sometimes conflicting
2. Livestock deliver a range of “good” in smallholder
farming systems in SSA; therefore the over-emphasis on
the environment should be moderated by the enormous
importance of livestock for livelihood of many poor rural
households.
3. Unprecedented demand for animal-source food, will
continue to soar in developing countries and this
provides great investment opportunities in livestock
sector to increase productivity, income and generate
employment opportunities
4.

Key concluding messages
4. Intensification of crop and livestock systems can
contribute greatly to bridging the productivity gaps
in the region
5. Farmers are on different ladder or gradient of
intensification, therefore there is need for targeting
of intensification options
6. There are tradeoffs in intensification of the crop-
livestock systems

This presentation is licensed for use under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence.
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ILRI thanks all donors and organizations who globally supported its work through their contributions
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